GAUT  GURLET; 


OR, 


THE    TRAPPERS    OF    UMBAGOG 


A  TALE  OP  BORDER  LIFE. 


BY 

D.  P.  THOMPSON, 

AUTHOR  OF  "may  MARTIN,"   "THE  GREEN  MOUNTAIN  BOYS,"   "THE  RANGERS,"  ETC. 


FOURTH     THOUSAND. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  P.  JEWETT  AND  COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,  OHIO :  HENRY  P.  B.  JEWETT. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857, 
BY  JOHN  P.  JEWETT  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  th3  'Oibfrict  Court  of  ths  ris'ric*i  of  Massachusetts. 


AMERICAN    STEREOTYPE    COMPANY, 
28  Ph(enix  Building,  Boston. 


GAUT   GURLEY 


89933^ 


CONTENTS 


CHAP  TEE    I. 

Page 
Town  and  Country  contrasted,  in  relation  to  Vice  and  Crime.  —  A 
Display  Party  to  avoid  Bankruptcy.  —  Gaut  Gurley,  and  other 
leading  Characters,  introduced  as  Actors  in  this  scene  of  City 
Life 1 


CHAPTER   II. 

Eetrospect  of  the  life  of  the  Country  Merchant,  in  making  Money, 
to  become  a  "Solid  Man  of  Boston."  —  Humble  Beginnings. — 
Tempted  into  Smuggling  from  Canada  in  Embargo  times,  and 
makes  a  Fortune,  by  the  aid  of  the  desperate  and  daring  Services 
of  Gaut  Gurley.  — A  Sketch  of  the  Wild  Scenes  of  Smuggling 
over  the  British  line  into  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  —  Remo- 
val to  the  City *. 15 

CHAPTER    III. 

Gambling  (an  allegory)  invented  by  the  Eiends,  and  is  proclaimed 
the  Premium  Vice  by  Lucifer.  —  A  Gambling  Scene  between  Gaut    - 
Gurley  and  the  merchant,  Mark  Elwood.  —  The  Failure  of  the 
latter.  —  The  Refusal  of  his  brother,  Arthur  Elwood,  to  help  him. 
—  The  Sui-prise  and  Distress  of  his  Family 27 

CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Downward  Path  of  the  Habitual  Gambler.  —  His  Family  shar- 
ing in  the  Degradation,  and  becoming  the  suffering  Victims  of  his 
Vices.  —  The  Sudden  Resolve  to  be  a  Man  again,  and  remove  to  an 

unsettled  Country,  to  begin  Life  anew  in  the  Woods tf . . .     38 

(iii) 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    V. 

Page 
The  moral  and  intellectual  Influences  of  Forest  Life.  —  Scenery  of 

Umbagog.  — Description  of  Elwood's  new  Home  in  the  Woods.  — 

The  Burning  of  his  first  Slash.  —  His  House  catches  Fire,  and  he 

and  his  Wife  engage  in  extinguishing  it,  praying  for  the  return  of 

their  Son,  Claud  Elwood,  to  help  them  in  their  terrible  strait 51 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Claud  Elwood  and  his  Forest  Musings.  —  Dangerous  Assault,  and 
slaying  of  a  Moose.  —  Rescue  of  Gaut's  Daughter  from  the  enraged 
animal.  —  Strange  Developments.  —  Incipient  Love  Scene.  — 
Trout-catching. — Return  of  Claud  and  Phillips  (the  Old  Hunter 
here  first  introduced),  to  aid  in  saving  the  Elwood  Cottage  from 
the  fire.  —  The  Thunder-shower  comes  to  complete  the  conquest  of 
the  fire.  —  The  destruction  of  the  King  Pine  by  a  Thunderbolt 60 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Jom-ney  up  the  Magalloway,  to  bring  home  the  slaughtered  Moose. 
— Love  and  its  entanglements;  its  Sunshine  now,  its  Storms  in  the 
distance 76 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Jaunt  of  Claud  and  Phillips  over  the  Rapids  to  the  next  Great  Lake, 
for  Deer-hunting  and  Trout-catching.  —  Rescue  of  Fluella,  the  In- 
dian Chiefs  Daughter,  from  Drowning  in  the  Rapids.  —  Her 
remarkable  Character  for  Intellect  and  Beauty 87 

CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Logging  Bee.  —  The  introduction  of  a  New  Character  in  Com- 
ical Codman,  the  Trapper. — The  Woodmen's  Banquet- — The 
foi-ming  of  the  Trapping  and  Hunting  Company,  to  start  on  an 
Expedition  to  the  Upper  Lakes 108 

CHAPTER   X. 

Developments  of  the  dark  and  designing  character  of  Gaut  Gurley. 
—  Tomah,  the  college-learned  Indian 124 


CONTENTS.  V 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Pago 
Mrs.  Elwood's  Bodings,  on  account  of  the  connection  of  her  Hus- 
band and  Son  mth  Gaut  and  his  Daixghter.  —  Her  Interview  with 
rhiella.  —  Claud's    Interview  with  Fluella  and  her  Father,  the 
Chief.  —  The  Chiefs  History  of  his  Tribe 137 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Adventures  of  the  Trappers  the  first  day  of  then-  Expedition  up  the 
Lakes.  — Bear-hunt,  Trout-catching,  etc.  — Introduction  of  Carvil, 
an  amateur  Hunter  from  the  Green  Mountains 1 54 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

The  Trappers'  Central  Camp  on  the  Maguntic  Lake.  —  Three 
Stories  of  most  remarkable  Adventures  in  the  Woods,  told  at  the 
Camp-fire  by  three  Hunters  and  Trappers 175 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

The  Voyage  to  Oquossah,  the  farthest  large  Lake.  —  The  stationing 
of  the  Trappers  at  difierent  points  on  the  Lake.  —  The  appointment 
of  Gaut  as  Keeper  of  the  Central  Camp,  on  the  Lake  below.  —  The 
Results  of  their  Fall's  Operations,  and  Preparations  to  return 
Home 200 

CHAPTER   XV. 

The  Trappers  overtaken  by  a  terrible  Snow-storm.  —  Their  Suffer- 
ing before  reaching  Central  Camp. — The  discovery  that  this  Camp 
had  been  Burnt,  and  Robbed  of  their  whole  Stock  of  Furs.  —  Their 
Providential  Escape  from  Death. 211 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

The  Legal  Prosecution  to  Recover  then-  Furs,  or  punish  Gaut,  the 
supposed  Criminal.  —  The  unsatisfactoiy  Result,  and  Gaut's  dark 
menaces  of  Revenge 235 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

Gaut's  Efforts  to  get  the  old  Company  off  into  the  Forest,  on  a 
Spring  Expedition.  —  All  refuse  but  Elwood  and  Son,  who  con- 
clude to  go. — Love  Entanglements,  and  the  boding  Fears  of 

Mrs.  Elwood 246 

1* 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Page 
Opening  of  Spring  in  the  Settlement-.  —  The  Trappers  fail  to  Re- 
turn. —  Gaut  comes  without  them.  —  The  Alarm  and  Suspicions 
of  the  Settlers  that  he  has  Murdered  the  Elwoods.  —  The  Circum- 
stantial Evidence 2G0 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

The  attempt  to  Arrest  Gaut.  —  His  retreat  to  a  Cave  in  the  Moun- 
tain.— His  final  Dislodgement  and  Capture,  for  Trial  and  Exami- 
nation   275 

CHAPTER   XX. 

Retrospect  of  the  Adventures  of  Gaut  and  the  Elwoods.  —  The 
Murder  of  Mark  Elwood,  and  the  Wounding  of  Claud,  by  Gaut.  — 
Claud's  life  saved  by  Pluella 299 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Gaut's  Trial,  Sentence,  and  Imprisonment.  —  General  Denouement 
of  the  Story.  —  Gaut  breaks  Jail,  escapes,  and  becomes  a  desperate 
Pirate-leader  .,..;;*»..;.*.*  * 324 

SEQUEL. 
A^ful  Fate  of  a  Pirate  Ship.  —  Gaut's  Death 350 


GAUT   GURLEY 


GAUT    GURLEY; 

OR, 

THE  TRAPPERS  OP  UMBAGOG. 


CHAPTER    I. 

"  God  made  the  country  and  man  made  the  town." 

So  wrote  the  charming  Cowper,  giving  us  to  understand,  by 
the  drift  of  the  context,  that  he  intended  the  remark  as  having 
a  moral  as  well  as  a  physical  application ;  since,  as  he  there 
intimates,  in  "  gain-devoted  cities,"  whither  naturally  flow  "  the 
dregs  and  feculence  of  every  land,"  and  where  "  foul  example 
in  most  minds  begets  its  likeness,"  the  vices  will  ever  find  their 
favorite  haunts  ;  while  the  virtues,  on  the  contrary,  will  always 
most  abound  in  the  country.  So  far  as  regards  the  virtues,  if 
we  are  to  take  them  untested,  this  is  doubtless  true.  And  so 
far,  also,  as  regards  the  mere  vices,  or  actual  transgressions  of 
morality,  we  need,  perhaps,  to  have  no  hesitation  in  yielding 
our  assent  to  the  position  of  the  poet.  But,  if  he  intends  to 
include  in  the  category  those  flagrant  crimes  which  stand  first 
in  the  gradation  of  human  offences,  we  must  be  permitted  to 
dissent  from  that  part  of  the  view ;  and  not  only  dissent,  but 
claim  that  truth  will  generally  require  the  very  reversal  of  the 
picture,  for  of  such  crimes  we  believe  it  will  be  found,  on 
examination,  that  the  country  ever  furnishes  the  greatest  pro- 
portion.    In  cities,  the  frequent  intercourse  of  men  with  their 

0. 


2  GAUT  gurlet;   or, 

fellow-men,  the  constant  interchange  of  the  ordinary  civilities 
of  life,  and  the  thousand  amusements  and  calls  on  their  atten- 
tion that  are  daily  occurring,  have  almost  necessarily  a  tendency 
to  soften  or  turn  away  the  edge  of  malice  and  hatred,  to  divert 
the  mind  from  the  dark  workings  of  revenge,  and  prevent  it 
from  settling  into  any  of  those  fatal  purposes  which  result  in 
the  wilful  destruction  of  life,  or  some  other  gross  outrage  on 
humanity.  But  in  the  country,  where,  it  will  be  remembered, 
the  first  blood  ever  spilled  by  the  hand  of  a  murderer  cried  up 
to  Heaven  from  the  ground,  and  where  the  meliorating  circum- 
stances we  have  named  as  incident  to  congregated  life  are  al- 
most wholly  wanting,  man  is  left  to 'brood  in  solitude  over  his 
real  or  fancied  wrongs,  till  all  the  fierce  and  stormy  passions 
of  his  nature  become  aroused,  and  hurry  him  unchecked  along 
to  the  fatal  outbreak.  In  the  city,  the  strong  and  bad  passions 
of  hate,  envy,  jealousy,  and  revenge,  softened  in  action,  as  we 
have  said,  on  finding  a  readier  vent  in  some  of  the  conditions 
of  urban  society,  generally  prove  comparatively  harmless.  In 
the  country,  finding  no  such  softening  influences,  and  no  such 
vent,  and  left  to  their  own  workings,  they  often  become  danger- 
ously concentrated,  and,  growing  more  and  more  intensified  as 
their  self-fed  fires  are  permitted  to  burn  on,  at  length  burst 
through  every  barrier  of  restraint,  and  set  all  law  and  reason 
alike  at  defiance. 

And  if  this  view,  as  we  believe,  is  correct  in  regard  to  the 
operation  of  this  class  of  passions,  why  not  in  regard  to  the 
operation  of  those  of  an  opposite  character  ?  Why  should  not 
the  same  principle  apply  to  the  operation  of  love  as  well  as 
hate  ?  It  should,  and  does,  though  not  in  an  equal  degree,  per- 
haps, apply  to  them  both.  It  has  been  shown  to  be  so  in  the 
experience  of  the  past.  It  is  illustrated  in  many  a  sad  drama 
of  real  life,  but  never  more  strikingly  than  in  the  true  and 
darkly  romantic  incidents  which  form  the  groundwork  of  the 
tale  upon  which  we  are  about  to  enter. 

It  was  on  a  raw  and  gusty  evening  in  the  month  of  Novem- 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  3 

ber,  a  few  years  subsequent  to  our  last  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  the  cold  and  vapor-laden  winds,  which  form  such  a  draw- 
back to  the  coast-clime  of  Xew  England,  were  fitfully  wailing 
over  the  drear  and  frost-blackened  landscape,  and  the  way- 
farers, as  if  keenly  alive  to  the  discomforts  of  all  without,  were 
seen  everywhere  hurrying  forward  to  reach  those  comforts 
within  which  were  heralded  in  the  cheerful  gleams  that  shot 
from  many  a  window,  when  a  showy  and  conspicuous  mansion, 
in  the  environs  of  Boston,  was  observed  to  be  lighted  up  to  an 
extent,  and  with  a  brilliancy,  that  betokened  the  advent  of  some 
ambitious  display  on  the  part  of  the  bustling  inmates.  Car- 
riages from  different  parts  of  the  city  were  successively  arriv- 
ing, discharging  their  loads  of  gaily-dressed  ladies  and  gentle- 
men at  the  door,  and  rattling  off  again  at  the  crack  of  the  Avhips 
of  the  pert  and  jauntily  equipped  drivers.  Others  on  foot, 
and  from  the  more  immediate  neighborhood,  were,  in  couples  and 
singly,  for  some  time  constantly  dropping  in  to  swell  the  crowd, 
witness,  and  perhaps  add  to,  the  attractions  of  the  occasion,  which 
was  obviously  one  of  those  social  gatherings  that  have  been 
sometimes,  in  conventional  phrase,  not  inaptly  denominated  a 
jam  ;  where  people  go  to  be  in  the  fashion,  to  see,  be  seen, 
and  try  as  hard  as  they  can  to  be  happy ;  but  where  the  aggre- 
gate of  happiness  enjoyed  is  probably  far  less,  as  a  general 
rule,  than  would  be  enjoyed  by  the  same  company  at  home  in 
the  pursuit  of  their  ordinary  avocations. 

Meanwhile,  as  -the  guests  were  assembling  and  being  con- 
ducted to  the  withdrawing  rooms,  through  the  cash-bought  and 
obsequious  politeness  of  some  of  the  troop  of  waiters  hired  for 
the  occasion,  the  master  of  the  mansion  had  taken  his  station 
in  the  nook  of  a  window  commanding  the  common  entrance, 
and  was  there  stealthily  noting,  as  the  company,  severally  or 
one  group  after  another,  mounted  the  doorsteps,  who  had  hon- 
ored his  cards  of  invitation  whom  he  wished  to  see  there,  and 
who  had  come  whom  he  wished  to  have  stayed  away.  He  was 
a  well-favored  man,  somewhat  past  the  middle  age  of  life,  with 


GAUT   GURLEY 


regular  features,  and  a  good  general  appearance,  but  with  one 
of  those  unsettled,  fluctuating  countenances  which  are  usually 
found  in  men  who,  while  affecting,  perhaps,  a  show  of  indepen- 
dence, lack  self-reliance,  fixed  principles,  or  some  other  of  the 
essential  elements  of  character.  And  such  indeed  was  Mark 
Elwood,  the  reputedly  wealthy  merchant  whom  we  have  thus 
introduced  as  one  of  the  leading  personages  of  our  story. 
Though  often  moved  with  kind  and  generous  impulses,  he  yet 
was  governed  by  no  settled  principles  of  benevolence ;  though 
often  shrewd  and  sagacious,  he  yet  possessed  no  true  wisdom ; 
and,  though  often  bold  and  resolute  in  action,  he  yet  lacked  the 
faith  and  firmness  of  true  courage.  In  short,  he  might  be  re- 
garded as  a  fair  representative  of  the  numerous  class  we  are 
daily  meeting  with  in  life,  —  men  who  do  many  good  things, 
but  more  questionable  ones  ;  who  undertake  much,  accomplish 
little ;  bustle,  agitate,  and  thus  contrive  to  occupy  the  largest 
space  in  public  attention ;  but  who,  when  sifted,  are  found,  as 
Pope  maliciously  says  of  women,  to 

"have  no  character  at  all." 

After  pursuing  his  observations  a  while,  with  an  air  of  dis- 
appointment or  indifference,  Elwood  was  about  to  turn  away, 
when  his  eye  caught  a  glimpse  of  an  approaching  group  of 
guests,  whose  appearance  at  once  lighted  up  his  countenance 
with  a  smile  of  satisfaction,  and  he  half-ejaculated:  "There 
they  come  !  —  the  solid  men  of  Boston.  The  presence  of  these, 
with  the  others  who  will  all  serve  as  trumpeters  of  the  affair, 
will  quell  every  suspicion  of  my  credit  till  some  new  strike 
shall  place  me  beyond  danger.  Yes,  just  as  I  calculated,  the 
money  spent  will  be  the  cunningest  investment  I  have  made 
these  six  months.  But  who  is  that  tagging  along  alone  after 
the  rest  ?  "  he  added,  his  countenance  suddenly  changing  to  a 
troubled  look,  and  slowly,  and  with  a  strange  emphasis,  pro- 
nouncing the  name,  "  Gaut  Gukley  ! "  he  hurried  away  from 
his  post  of  observation. 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  5 

The  person  whose  obviously  unexpected  appearance  among 
the  arriving  guests  had  so  much  disturbed  our  host,  having 
leisurely  brought  up  the  rear,  now  paused  a  few  paces  from 
the  door,  and  took  a  deliberate  survey  of  all  that  was  visible 
through  the  w^indows  of  the  scene  passing  within.  He  was  a 
man  of  a  personal  appearance  not  likely  to  be  forgotten.  His 
strong,  upright,  ^veil-proportioned  frame,  full,  rounded  head, 
and  unexceptionable  features,  were  unusually  well  calculated  to 
arrest  the  attention,  and,  at  a  little  distance  especially,  to  secure 
the  favorable  impressions  of  others;  but  those  impressions 
faded  away,  or  gave  place  to  opposite  emotions,  on  a  nearer 
approach,  for  then  the  beholder  read  something  in  the  counte- 
nance that  met  his,  which  made  him  pause,  —  something  wdiich 
he  could  not  fathom,  but  wdnch  at  once  disinclined  him  to  any 
acquaintance  with  the  man  to  whom  that  countenance  be- 
longed. 

Perhaps  it  should  be  viewed  as  one  of  the  kindest  provi- 
sions of  Providence,  made  in  aid  of  our  rights  and  instincts  of 
self-preservation,  that  man  should  not  be  able  wholly  to  hide 
the  secrets  of  his  heart  from  his  fellow-men,  —  that  the  human 
countenance  should  be  so  formed  that  no  schooling,  however  se- 
vere, can  prevent  it  from  betraying  the  evil  thoughts  and  purposes 
which  may  be  lurking  within.  It  is  said  that  God  alone  can  read 
the  secrets  of  the  heart ;  but  we  have  often  thought  that  He  has 
imparted  to  us  more  of  this  attribute  of  His  omniscience  than 
that  which  is  vouchsafed  us  in  any  one  of  our  other  faculties ; 
or,  in  other  words,  that,  to  the  skill  we  may  acquire  by  practice 
in  reading  the  countenance.  He  has  added  something  of  the  light 
of  intuition,  to  enable  us  to  pierce  into  the  otherwise  impen- 
etrable recesses  of  the  bosom,  and  thus  guard  ourselves  against 
the  designs  which  may  there  be  disclosed,  and  which,  but  for 
that,  the  deceptions  of  the  tongue  might  forever  conceal.  All 
this,  we  are  aware,  may  pass  as  a  mere  supposition ;  yet  we 
think  its  correctness  will  be  very  generally  attested  by  officers 
1* 


OR, 

of  justice,  policemen,  jailers,  and  all  those  who  have  had  much 
experience  in  the  detection  of  crime. 

But,  whether  the  doctrine  is  applicable  or  not  in  the  general- 
ity of  cases,  it  was  certainly  so  in  that  of  the 'unbidden  guest 
whose  appearance  we  have  attempted  to  describe.  Unlike 
Elwood,  he  had  character,  but  all  those  who  closely  noted  him 
were  made  to  feel  that  his  character  was  a  dark  and  dangerous 
one. 

After  Gaut,  for  such  he  was  called  among  his  acquaintance, 
had  leisurely  run  his  eye  from  window  to  window  of  the  many 
lighted  apartments  of  the  house,  and  scanned,  as  he  did,  with 
many  a  sneering  smile,  the  appearances  within,  as  long  as 
suited  his  pleasure,  he  boldly  walked  in,  and,  with  all  the  as- 
surance of  the  most  favored,  proceeded  to  mingle  with  the 
company. 

On  quitting  his  lookout,  Elwood  repaired  to  the  reception- 
room,  where  Mrs.  Elwood,  the  mistress  of  the  mansion,  was 
already  in  waiting,  nerving  herself  to  perform,  as  acceptably 
as  she  could,  her  part  of  the  stereotyped  ceremony  of  receiving 
the  guests,  and  exchanging  with  them  the  salutations  and  com- 
monplaces of  the  evening.  Mrs.  Elwood,  though  not  beautiful, 
nor  even  handsome,  was  yet  every  way  a  comely  woman ;  and 
the  quiet  dignity  and  the  unpretending  simplicity  of  her  man- 
ner, together  with  a  certain  intelligent  and  appreciating  cast 
of  countenance,  which  always  rested  on  her  placid  features, 
seldom  failed  to  impress  those  who  approached  her  with  feel- 
ings of  kindness  and  respect.  She  looked  pale  and  fatigued, 
from  the  labors  and  anxieties  she  had  gone  through  in  the 
preparations  for  the  present  occasion ;  and.  In  addition  to  this, 
which  Is  ever  the  penalty  to  the  mistress  of  the  house  In  getting 
up  a  large  party,  there  was  an  air  of  sadness  In  her  looks  that 
told  of  secret  sorrows  which  were  not  much  mitigated  by  all 
the  show  of  wealth  that  surrounded  her. 

By  this  time  the  company,  having  mostly  arrived  and  di- 
vested themselves  of    hats,  gloves,  bonnets,  shawls,  together 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  7 

with  all  other  of  the  loose  etceteras  of  dress  then  in  vogue,  and 
carefully  consulted  the  confidential  mirrors  to  secure  that  ad- 
justment of  collars,  curls,  smirks,  and  smiles  which  are  deemed 
most  favorable  for  effect  in  public,  were  now  shown  into  the 
suit  of  apartments  where  the  host  and  hostess  were  waiting  to 
receive  them. 

But  it  is  far  from  oiir  purpose  to  attempt  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  the  thousand  little  nothings  which  go  to  make  up  the 
character  of  one  of  these  great  fashionable  parties.  Wlio  ever 
came  from  one  the  wiser  ?  Not  one  guest  in  ten,  probably,  is 
found  engaged  in  a  conversation  in  which  the  ordinary  powers 
of  the  speaker  are  exercised.  A  forced  glee  and  smartness 
seem  everywhere  to  prevail  among  the  company,  who  are 
continually  sacrificing  their  common  sense  in  their  eager  at- 
tempts to  appear  gay  and  witty.  Who  was  ever  made  really 
happier  by  being  in  such  an  assemblage  ?  Although  the  par- 
ticipants may.  exhibit  to  casual  observation  the  semblance  of 
enjoyment,  yet  a  close  inspection  will  show  that  they  are  only 
acting,  and  that,  as  we  have  already  intimated,  their  apparent 
enjoyment  is  no  more  deserving  the  name  of  social  happiness 
than  that  which  is  often  represented  as  enjoyed  by  a  company 
of  stage  actors,  in  the  harassing  performance  of  the  fictitious 
scenes  of  some  genteel  comedy.  "Who  was  ever  made  any 
better  ?  Any  rational  discussion  tending  to  exalt  or  purify  the 
mind  would  be  deemed  out  of  place ;  and  any  moral  teachings 
would  be  ridiculed  or  find  no  listeners.  And,  finally,  who  was 
ever  made  healthier?  In  the  bad  air  generated  among  so 
many  breaths  in  confined  apartments,  the  high  nervous  excite- 
ment that  usually  prevails  among  the  company,  and  the  ex- 
posure to  cold  or  dampness  to  which  their  unprepared  systems 
are  often  subjected  in  returning  home,  Death  has  marked  many 
a  victim  for  his  own ;  while,  at  the  best,  lassitude  and  depres- 
sion are  sure  to  follow,  from  which  it  will  require  days  to  re- 
cover. 

In  these  strictures  on  overgrown  parties,  we  would  not,  of 


8  GAUT   GURLEY;     ORy 

course,  be  understood  as  intending  to  include  the  smaller  social 
gatherings,  where  men  and  women  do  not,  as  they  are  prone  to 
do  in  crowds,  lose  their  sense  of  personal  responsibility,  in  de- 
porting themselves  like  rational  beings ;  for  such  doubtless 
often  lead  to  pleasing  and  instructive  interchange  of  thought, 
and.  the  cultivation  of  those  little  amenities  of  life  which  are 
scarcely  less  essential  than  the  virtues  themselves  in  the  struc- 
ture of  good  society. 

But  it  is  time  we  had  returned  from  this  digression  to  the 
characters  and  incidents  immediately  connected  with  the  action 
of  our  tale. 

A  short  time  after  the  frosts  of  formality,  which  usually 
attend  the  introductory  scenes  of  such  assemblages,  had  melted 
away  and  given  place  to  the  noisy  frivolities  of  the  evening, 
and  while  the  bustling  host,  and  pale,  anxious-looking  hostess, 
were  together  taking  their  rounds  among  their  three  hundred 
guests,  bestowing  their  attentions  on  the  more  neglected,  call- 
ing out  the  more  modest,  and  exchanging  civilities  with  all, 
- — while  this  was  passing,  suddenly  there  arose  from  without  a 
confused  noise,  as  of  quick  movements  and  mingling  voices, 
which,  from  its  character  and  the  direction  whence  it  came, 
obviously  indicated  some  altercation,  or  other  disturbance,  at  the 
outer  door.  This  attracting  the  quickened  attention  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Elwood,  the  former  left  his  companion,  and  was  threading 
his  way  through  the  throng,  when  he  was  met  by  a  servant, 
who  in  a  flurried  under-tone  said : 

"  There  is  out  here  at  the  door,  Mr.  Elwood,  a  sort  of  a 
countryfied,  odd-looking  old  fellow,  in  rusty  brown  clothes,  that 
has  been  insisting  on  coming  in,  without  being  invited  here  to- 
night, and  without  telling  his  business  or  even  giving  his  name. 
And  he  pressed  so  hard  that  we  had  to  drive  him  back  off  the 
steps ;  but  he  refused  to  go  away,  even  then,  and  kept  asking 
where  Mark  was." 

"  Mark !  why,  that  is  ray  given  name  :  didn't  you  know  it  ?  " 
said  Elwood,  rebukingly. 


THE   TRAPPEES   OF   UMBAGOG.  9 

"  No,  sir,  I  didn't,"  replied  the  fashionable  fro  tempore 
lackej.  "  And  if  I  had,  my  orders  has  always  been  on  sech 
occasions  not  to  admit  any  but  the  invited,  who  won't  send  in 
their  names,  or  tell  their  business.  And  I  generally  calculate 
to  go  by  Gunter,  and  do  the  thing  up  genteel." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Elwood,  impatiently  cutting  short  the  other 
in  the  defence  of  his  professional  character,  and  leading  the  way 
to  the  door,  "  well,  well,  we  had  better  see  who  he  is,  perhaps." 

When  they  reached  the  front  entrance,  they  caught,  by  means 
of  the  reflected  light  of  the  entry  and  chambers,  an  imperfect 
view  of  the  object  of  their  proposed  scrutiny,  walking  up  and 
down  the  bricked  pathway  leading  to  the  house.  But,  not  being 
able  to  identify  the  new-comer  with  any  one  of  his  acquaint- 
ances, at  that  distance,  Elwood  walked  down  and  confronted 
him ;  when,  after  a  momentary  pause,  he  siezed  the  supposed 
intruder  by  the  hand,  and,  in  a  surprised  and  agitated  tone, 
exclaimed : 

"  My  brother  Ai-thur !     How  came  you  here  ?  " 

"  By  steam  and  stage." 

"  Not  what  I  meant :  but  no  matter.  We  were  not  expecting 
you ;  and  I  fear  the  waiters  have  made  a  sad  mistake." 

"  As  bad  an  one  as  I  did,  perhaps,  in  declining  to  be  catechized 
at  my  brother's  door." 

"  No,  you  were  right  enough ;  but  the  waiters,  being  only 
here  for  the  extra  occasion,  —  the  bit  of  flare-up  you  see  we 
have  here  to-night,  —  and  not  knowing  you,  thought  they  must 
do  as  others  do  at  such  times.  So  overlook  the  blunder,  if  you 
will,  and  walk  in." 

Mark  Elwood,  much  chagrined  and  discomposed  at  the  dis- 
covery of  such  an  untoward  first  reception  of  his  brother,  now 
ushered  him  into  the  brilliantly-lighted  hall,  where  the  two 
stood  in  such  singular  contrast  that  no  stranger  would  have 
ever  taken  them  for  brothers,  —  Mark  being,  as  we  have  before 
described  him,  a  good-sized,  and,  in  the  main,  a  good-looking 
man ;  while  the  other,  whom  we  have  introduced  as  Arthur 


10 

Elwood,  was  of  a  diminutive  size,  with  commonplace  features, 
and  a  severe,  forbidding  countenance,  made  so,  perhaps,  by- 
intense  appHcation  to  business,  together  with  the  unfavorable 
effect  caused  by  a  blemished  and  sightless  eye. 

"  Well,  brother,"  said  Mark,  after  a  hesitating  and  awkward 
pause,  "  shall  I  look  you  up  a  private  room,  or  will  you  go  in 
among  the  company,  —  that  is,  if  you  consider  yourself  in  trim 
to  join  them  ?  " 

"  Your  rooms  must  all  be  in  use,  and  I  should  make  less 
trouble  to  go  in  and  be  lost  in  the  crowd.  My  trim  will  not 
kill  anybody,  probably,"  was  the  dry  reply  to  the  indirect  hint 
of  the  other. 

In  all  this  Mark's  better  judgment  coincided;  but  he  had 
no  moral  courage,  and,  fearing  the  cut  and  color  of  his  some- 
what outre-looking  brother's  garments  might  excite  the  remarks 
of  his  fashionable  guests,  he  would  have  gladly  disposed  of 
him  in  some  private  manner  till  the  company  had  departed. 
Finding  him,  however,  totally  insensible  to  all  such  consider- 
ations, he  concluded  to  make  the  best  of  it,  and  accordingly  at 
once  led  the  way  into  the  guest-crowded  apartments. 

Here,  contrary  to  his  doubting  brother's  expectation,  Ai'thur 
Elwood,  whose  character  appeared  to  be  known  to  several  of 
the  wealthier  guests,  was  soon  treated  with  much  respect,  for, 
in  addition  to  what  a  previous  knowledge  of  him  secured,  Mrs. 
Elwood  had  promptly  come  forward  to  greet  him,  and  be  cor- 
dially greeted  in  return,  and,  unlike  her  husband,  had  not  hes- 
itated to  bestow  on  him  publicly  the  most  marked  attentions. 
As  soon,  however,  as  she  had  thus  testified  her  sense  of  the 
superiority  of  worth  over  outward  appearance,  and  thus,  by 
her  delicate  tact,  given  him  the  consideration  with  the  company 
which  she  thought  belonged  to  the  brother  of  her  husband,  she 
gracefully  relinquished  him  to  the  latter ;  when  the  two,  by 
tacit  mutual  consent,  sought  a  secluded  corner,  and  seated  them- 
selves for  a  private  conversation. 

"  As  I  said,  I  did  not  expect  you,  Arthur,"  commenced  Mark 


•     THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  11 

Elwood,  in  the  unsteady  and  hesitating  tone  of  one  about  to 
broach  a  matter  in  which  he  feU  a  deep  interest.  '•'  I  was  not 
looking  for  you  here  at  all,  these  days ;  but  presumed,  when  I 
■svrote  you,  that,  if  you  concluded  to  grant  the  favor  I  asked, 
you  would  transact  the  business  through  the  mail." 

"  Loans  of  money  are  not  always  favors,  Mark,"  responded 
the  other,  thoughtfully ;  "  and  when  I  make  them,  I  like  to 
know  whether  they  promise  any  real  benefit.  I  could,  as  you 
say,  have  transacted  the  business  through  the  mail,  but  I  con- 
fess, Mark,  I  have  lately  had  some  misgivings  and  doubts 
whether  your  commercial  fabric  here  in  Boston  was  not  too 
big  and  broad  for  the  foundation ;  and  I  thought  I  would  come, 
see,  and  judge  for  myself." 

"  But  I  only  asked  for  the  loan  of  a  few  thousands,"  said 
Mark,  meekly.  "  The  fact  is,  Arthur,  that,  owing  to  some  bad 
luck  and  disappointments  in  money  matters,  I  am,  just  now,  a 
little  embarrassed  about  meeting  some  of  my  engagements  ;  and 
I  trust  you  will  not  refuse  to  give  me  a  lift.  What  say  you, 
Arthur  ?  " 

"  I  don't  say,  but  will  see  and  decide,"  replied  the  other. 
"  But,  Mark,"  he  added,  after  a  pause,  "  Mark,  what  will  this 
useless  parade  here  to-night  cost  you  ?  " 

"  0,  a  mere  trifle,  —  a  few  hundreds,  perhaps." 

"  And  you  think  hundreds  well  spent,  when  you  are  want- 
ing thousands  to  pay  your  debts,  do  you  ?  " 

"  O,  you  know,  Arthur,  a  man,  to  keei^  up  his  credit,  must 
display  a  little  once  in  a  while." 

"  No,  I  did  not  know  that,  Mark.  I  did  not  know  that  the 
throwing  away  of  hundreds  would  help  a  man's  credit  in  thou- 
sands, especially  with  those  whose  opinion  would  be  of  any  use 
to  him.  But  go,"  added  the  speaker,  rising,  "  go  and  see  to 
your  company :  I  can  take  care  of  myself." 

The  brothers,  rising  from  an  interview  in  which  they  had 
felt,  perhaps,  nearly  an  equal  degree  of  secret  embarrass- 
ment,—  the  one   believing   that  his   last  hope  hung  on  the 


12 

result,  and  the  other  feeling  conscious  of  entering  on  a  most 
ungracious  duty,  —  now  separated,  and  mingled  with  the  gay- 
throng,  who,  swaying  hither  and  thither,  and,  seemingly  without 
end  or  aim,  moving  round  and  round  their  limited  range  of 
apartments,  like  the  froth  in  the  circling  eddies  of  a  whirlpool) 
continued  to  laugh,  flirt,  and  chatter  on,  till  the  advent  of  the 
last  act  of  the  social  farce,  —  the  throwing  open  of  a  suit  of 
hitherto  sealed  apartments,  and  the  welcome  disclosure  of  the 
varied  and  costly  delicacies  of  the  loaded  refreshment  tables, 
which  the  company,  by  their  strong  and  simultaneous  rush 
thitherward,  the  rattling  of  knives  and  forks,  spoons  and 
glasses,  the  rapid  popping  of  champagne  corks,  and  the  low, 
eager  hum  of  gratified  voices  that  followed,  evidently  deemed 
the  best,  as  well  as  the  closing,  act  of  the  evening's  entertain- 
ment. 

While  this  scene  was  in  progress,  Gaut  Gurley,  who  had 
been  for  some  time  in  vain  watching  the  opportunity,  caught 
Mark  Elwood  unoccupied  in  one  of  the  vacated  apartments, 
and  abruptly  approached  and  confronted  him. 

"  Well,  what  now,  Gaut  ? "  exclaimed  Elwood,  with  an  as- 
sumed air  of  pettishness,  after  finding  there  was  no  further 
chance  of  escaping  an  interview  which  he  had  evidently  been 
trying  to  avoid  ;  "  what  would  you  have  now  ?  " 

"  I  would  just  know  whether  you  intend  to  keep  your  en- 
gagement," replied  Gurley,  fixing  his  black,  quivering  eyes 
keenly  on  the  other. 

"  What  engagement  ?  " 

"  To  give  me  a  chance  to  win  back  that  money." 

"  Which  you  demand  when  you  have  taken  from  me  an  hun- 
dred to  one ! " 

"  And  who  had  a  better  right  ?  Through  whose  means  did 
you  make  your  fortune  ?  Besides  this,  haven't  I  always  given 
you  a  fair  chance  to  win  back  all  you  could  ?  " 

"  I  want  no  more  of  such  chances." 


THE   TEAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  13 

"  But  you  promised ;  and  I  want  to  know  whetlier  you  mean 
to  keep  that  promise  or  not." 

"  Supposing  I  do,  you  would  not  have  me  leave  home  to- 
night, would  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  to-night." 

"  But  my  brother,  as  you  have  already  discovered,  I  presume, 
has  just  arrived  on  a  visit ;  and  you  know  I  can't  decently 
leave  him." 

"  And  what  do  1  care  for  that  ?  Say  whether  you  will  meet 
me  at  the  old  room,  or  not,  as  soon  as  your  company  have 
cleared  out  ?  " 

"  You  are  unreasonable,  cruel,  Gaut." 

"  Then  say  you  will  not  go,  and  see  what  will  come  of  it, 
Mark  Elwood ! " 

"  I  must  go  —  I  loill  go,  Gaut,"  rephed  Elwood,  turning  pale 
at  the  last  intimation.  "  As  soon  as  I  get  rid  of  the  company, 
I  will  start  directly  for  the  place." 

"  Well,  just  as  you  can  afford,"  said  Gaut,  doggedly,  as  he 
turned  on  his  heel,  and  made  his  way  out  of  the  house. 

Mark  Elwood  drew  a  long  breath  as  he  was  thus  relieved 
of  the  other's  presence,  and  was  leaving  the  room,  when  Mrs. 
Elwood,  who  had  felt  much  disturbed  at  discovering  among  her 
guests  one  of  whose  questionable  character  and  connection  with 
her  husband  she  was  already  apprised,  and  who,  from  an  ad- 
joining apartment,  had  caught  a  slight  glimpse  of  the  meeting 
just  described,  and  enough  of  the  conversation  to  enable  her  to 
guess  at  its  import,  hurriedly  came  forward,  and,  in  a  voice 
tremulous  from  suppressed  emotion,  said : 

"  You  surely  are  not  going  out  to-night,  ]\Ir.  Elwood  ?  " 

"  No  —  that  is  —  only  for  a  short  time,"  he  said,  hesitating, 
and  a  little  confused  at  the  discovery  of  his  design,  which  a 
second  thought  told  him  she  had  made ;  "  only  for  a  short  time. 
But  don't  stop  me  to  talk  now ;  you  see  the  company  are  re- 
tiring.   I  must  see  the  gentlemen  off." 

"  Mr.  Elwood,  I  must  be  heard,"  persisted  the  troubled  and 

2 


14  GAUT  GURLET. 

anxious  wife.  "  I  cannot  bear  to  have  jpn  go  off,  and  leave 
your  only  brother,  whom  you  have  not  seen  for  years,  and*  for 
such  company  I  O  Mr.  Elwood,  how  can  you  let  that  bad 
man " 

"  Hush !  don't  get  into  such  a  stew.  I  shall  soon  be  back," 
interrupted  the  other.  "  You  can  excuse  my  absence.  There, 
I  hear  them  inquiring  for  me.  I  must  go,"  he  added,  abruptly 
breaking  away,  and  leaving  his  grieved  companion  to  hide  her 
emotions  as  she  best  could  from  the  guests  who  were  now  seen 
approaching  for  their  parting  salutations. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  company  had  dispersed  for  their  respec- 
tive homes,  and  with  them,  also,  had  unnoticed  slipped  away 
theu'  infatuated  host. 


CHAPTER    II. 

"At  first,  he,  busy,  plodding,  poor, 
Earned,  saved,  and  daily  swelled  his  store ; 
But  soon  Ambition's  summits  rose. 
And  Avarice  dug  his  mine  of  woes." 

For  the  better  understanding  of  some  of  the  allusions  of 
the  preceding  chapter,  and  of  others  that  may  yet  appear  in 
different  parts  of  our  tale,  as  well,  indeed,  as  for  a  better  ap- 
preciation of  the  whole,  we  will  here  turn  aside  from  the  thread 
of  the  narrative  just  commenced,  to  take  a  brief  retrospect  of 
the  leading  events  and  cii'cumstances  with  which  the  previous 
lives  of  the  several  personages  we  have  introduced  had  been 
connected,  and  among  which  their  characters  had  been  shaped 
and  their  destinies  determmed. 

Some  twenty  two  or  three  years  previous  to  the  juncture  we 
have  been  describing,  Arthur  and  Mark  Elwood,  by  the  fruits 
of  their  unremitting  industry  as  laborers  on  a  farm  in  summers, 
and  as  pedlars  of  what  they  could  best  buy  and  sell  in  winters, 
added  to  the  few  hundred  dollars  patrimony  they  each  inherited, 
were  enabled,  in  a  few  years,  to  realize  the  object  of  their  early 
ambition,  in  the  opening  of  a  small  retail  store,  in  one  of  the 
little  outskirt  villages  of  northern  New-Hampshire. 

Such,  like  that  of  hundreds  of  others  among  us  who  now 
count  their  wealth  by  half  millions,  was  the  slender  beginnmg 
of  these  two  brothers.  And,  although  they  were  from  the  first, 
as  we  have  seen  them  at  the  last,  as  different  in  their  general 
characters  as  they  were  in  then*  persons,  they  yet  got  on  very 
well  together ;  for,  however  they  might  disagree  respecting  the 
modes  and  means  of  acquisition,  they  were  always  as  one  in 

(15)" 


16  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

regard  to  the  great  result  each  alike  had  in  view,  and  that  was 
to  make  money  and  be  rich.  And,  by  a  sort  of  tacit  under- 
standing, falling  into  the  departments  of  business  best  suited  to 
their  different  tastes  and  capacities,  the  quiet,  cautious,  calculat- 
ing, and  systematic  Arthur  confined  himself  to  the  store,  kept 
the  books,  contrived  the  ways  and  means,  and,  in  short,  did  the 
principal  head-work  of  the  establishment ;  while  Mark,  being 
of  a  more  stirring  turn,  and,  from  his  brisk  hon  homme  manner 
and  less  scrupulous  disposition,  better  calculated  for  di-umming 
up  customers  and  securing  bargains  for  the  store,  did  most  of 
the  outdoor  business,  riding  about  the  country,  contracting  for 
produce,  securing  barter  deal,  and  making  himself,  in  all  things, 
the  runner  and  trumpeter  of  the  company.  At  night  they 
usually  met  together  to  compare  notes  and  report  progress; 
and  they  were  never  happier  than  when  they  sat  down  in  their 
small  store-room,  hemmed  in  and  surrounded  by  casks  of  nails, 
quintals  of  codfish,  farming  tools,  etc.,  on  one  side,  and  narrow 
shelves  of  cheap  calicos,  India  cottons,  and  flaunting  ribbons,  on 
the  other,  and  recounted  to  each  other  the  business  and  bargains 
of  the  day.  Thus  the  two,  working  on,  like  the  spring  and 
balance-wheel  of  some  piece  of  mechanism,  in  harmony  together, 
soon  placed  themselves  beyond  all  fears  of  failure,  and  seemed 
happy  and  contented  with  their  situation  and  prospects. 

This  situation  of  affairs,  however,  was  not  destined  to  be  of 
very  long  continuance.  Not  long  after  finding  themselves  safely 
on  the  highway  to  independence,  they  very  naturally  began  to 
think  of  selecting,  from  among  the  fair  young  customers  of  their 
store,  the  ones  who  might  make  them  eligible  companions  for 
life.  And,  as  the  wayward  love-fates  would  have  it,  they  both 
secretly  fixed  their  affections  on  one  and  the  same  girl,  —  the 
pretty  and  sensible  Alice  Gregg,  who,  though  a  plain  farmer's 
daughter,  was,  to  the  vexation  and  envy  of  her  numerous  rustic 
suitors,  to  be  won  by  nothing  short  of  one  of  the  village  mer- 
chants. Alice  was  not  long  in  discovering  her  advantage,  nor 
in  deciding  to  avail  herself  of  it,  so  far  as  to  confine  her  election 


THE   TEAPPEES    OF    UMBAGOG.  17 

to  one  of  these,  her  two  undeclared  lovers.  And,  after  balanc- 
ing a  while  in  her  mind  the  account  between  her  judgment, 
w'hich  would  have  declared  for  the  reserved  but  sterling  Ai'thur, 
and  her  fancy,  which  clamored  hard  for  the  manly-looking  and 
more  social  Mark,  she  finally  yielded  the  reins  to  the  latter, 
and  took  measures  accordingly.  After  this,  Arthur's  taste  in 
selecting  a  piece  of  goods  did  not,  as  before,  seem  to  be  appre- 
ciated. Her  handkerchief  was  never  dropped  where  he  had 
any  chance  to  pick  it  up ;  and  she  was  never  quite  ready  to  go 
till  Mark  was  nearest  at  hand  to  help  her  into  her  wagon  or 
side-saddle.  By  this  delicate  system  of  fismale  tactics,  common 
with  girls  of  more  pretensions  than  Ahce,  she  effectually  re- 
pressed the  advances  of  the  one,  and  as  effectually  encouraged 
those  of  the  other ;  and  the  result,  as  she  had  anticipated,  was 
a  declaration  from  Mark,  an  acceptance  on  hel*  part,  and  a 
speedy  marriage  between  them.  Arthur's  heart  bled  at  the 
event ;  but  it  bled  inwardly ;  and  he  had  at  least  the  consolation 
of  believing  that  no  one  suspected  the  state  of  his  feelings, 
except,  perhaps,  Alice,  and  he  was  not  unwilling  that  she  should 
knov\^  them.  He  therefore  put  the  best  face  on  the  matter  he 
could, — appeared  wholly  unconcerned, — attended  the  wedding, 
and  with  forced  gayety  openly  wished  the  new  married  couple 
the  happiness  which  he  secretly  wished  was  his  own.  The 
tender  passion  had  been  a  new  thing  to  the  money-loving 
Arthur.  By  its  elevating  influences,  he,  who  had  looked  for 
enjoyment  only  in  wealth,  had  been  enabled  to  raise  his  vision 
to  a  higher  sphere  of  happiness.  And  thus  to  lose  the  bright 
glimpses,  and  be  thrown  back  to  earth  again,  was,  in  reality, 
however  he  might  disguise  the  fact  from  others,  a  serious  blow 
to  his  feehngs,  and  one,  indeed,  which  soon  mainly  led  to  a 
movement  on  his  part  that  gave  a  new  turn  to  his  apparent 
destinies,  and  a  no  less  one,  probably,  to  those  of  his  then 
almost  envied  brother  Mark.  For,  finding  it  impossible  to  feel 
his  former  interest  in  business,  in  a  place  whose  associations 
had  become  painful  to  him,  he  secretly  resolved  to  leave  it  as 

2* 


18  GAUT   GURLEY  ;     OR, 

soon  as  he  believed  lie  could  do  so  without  leading  to  any  sur- 
mises respecting  the  true  cause  of  the  change  he  contemplated. 
Accordingly,  in  a  few  months,  he  began  to  suggest  his  own  un- 
fitness for  making  a  profitable  partner  in  country  trade,  and 
finally  came  out  with  a  direct  proposition  to  his  brother  to  buy 
him  out  at  a  sum  which  he  knew  would  be  a  temptingly  low 
one.  And  the  result  was,  that  the  proposition  was  accepted, 
"  the  partnership  dissolved  by  mutual  consent,"  and  the  released 
Arthur,  with  his  portion,  soon  on  his  way  to  one  of  the  eastern 
seaports,  to  set  up  business,  as  he  soon  did,  for  himself  alone. 
The  withdrawal  of  Arthur  Elwood  deprived  this  little  estab- 
lishment of  its  only  really  valuable  guidance,  and  left  it  to  the 
chance  fortunes  of  greater  gains  or  greater  losses  than  would 
have  been  likely  to  occur  under  the  cautious  and  hazard- 
excluding  system  of  business  which  he  had  adopted  for  its  con- 
trol. But,  nothing  for  a  year  or  two  occurring  to  induce  Mark 
Elwood  to  depart  from  the  system  under  which  the  business 
had  been  conducted,  and  Arthur's  prudent  maxims  of  trade,  to 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  defer,  remaining  fresh  in  his 
mind,  he  naturally  kept  on  in  the  old  routine,  which  he  was  the 
more  willing  to  follow,  as  by  it  he  found  himself  clearly  on  the 
advance.  He  was  blessed  in  his  family ;  for  his  wife,  who  had 
no  undue  aspirations  for  wealth  or  show,  had  not  only  proved 
an  efficient  helper  by  her  economy  and  good  counsels,  but  added 
still  more  to  his  gratification  by  bringing  him  a  promising  boy. 
Being  the  only  trader  of  the  village,  or  hamlet  it  might  more 
properly  be  called,  he  was  conscious  of  being  the  object  of  that 
peculiar  kind  of  favor  and  respect  which  was  then  —  more 
freely  than  at  the  present  day,  perhaps  —  accorded  to  the  coun- 
try merchant  by  the  masses  among  whom  he  resided.  And, 
finding  his  still  comparatively  moderate  expectations  thus  every 
day  fully  realized,  he  was  satisfied  with  his  condition  in  the 
present,  and  hopeful  and  happy  in  the  prospects  it  presented  in 
the  future;  for  the  demon  of  unlawful  gain  liad  not  then 
tempted  him  into  forbidden  paths  by  the  lure  of  sudden  riches. 


THE    TRAPPERS    OP    UMBAGOG.  19 

But  that  demon  at  length  came  in  the  shape  of  Gaut  Gurley. 
From  what  part  of  the  country  this  singular  and  questionable 
personage  originally  came,  was  unknown,  even  in  the  neighbor- 
ing village  (which  was  within  the  borders  of  Maine)  where  he 
had  recently  located  himself  with  a  young  wife  and  child.  And, 
as  he  very  rarely  made  any  allusions  to  his  own  personal  affairs? 
every  thing  relating  to  his  origin,  life,  and  employments,  previous 
to  his  appearance  in  this  region,  w^as  a  matter  of  mere  conjec- 
ture, and  many  a  dark  surmise,  also,  we  should  add,  respecting 
his  true  character.  For  the  last  few  years,  however,  he  was 
known  to  have  followed,  at  the  appropriate  seasons  of  the  year, 
the  business  of  trapping,  or  trading  for  furs  with  the  Indians, 
around  the  northern  lakes.  He  had  several  times  passed 
through  the  village  on  his  returns  from  his  northern  tours,  and 
called  on  the  Elwoods,  whose  contrasted  characters  he  seemed 
soon  to  understand.  But  he  pressed  no  bargains  upon  them 
for  his  peltries ;  for,  disliking  the-  close  questionings  and  scru- 
tinizing glances  of  Arthur,  and  finding  he  could  make  no  final 
trade  with  Mark  without  the  assent  of  the  former,  he  gave  up 
all  attempts  of  the  kind,  and  did  not  call  again  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  partnership,  nor  till  this  time  ;  when,  finding 
that  Mark  was  in  trade  alone,  he  announced  his  intention  of 
spending  some  time  in  the  village,  to  see  what  arrangements 
could  be  made,  as  he  at  first  held  out  to  Elwood,  for  estabhsh- 
ing  this  as  his  place  for  the  regular  sales  or  deposit  of  his  furs. 

But  the  fur  trafiic,  whatever  it  might  have  been  formerly, 
was  now  not  the  main,  if  any  part  of  the  object  he  had  in  view. 
The  times  had  changed,  closing  many  of  the  old  avenues  of 
trade,  but  opening  new  ones  to  tempt  the  ever  restless  spirit  of 
gain.  And,  although  the  fur  trade  was  still  profitable,  there  was 
yet  another  springing  up,  which,  for  those  who,  like  him,  had 
no  scruples  about  engaging  in  it,  promised  to  become  far  more 
so.  The  restrictions  which  it  had  been  the  policy  of  our  gov- 
ernment to  throw  around  commerce,  in  the  incipient  stages  of 
our  last  national  quarrel  with  Great  Britain,  had  caused  an  un- 


20  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

precedented  rise  in  the  prices  of  silks  and  other  fine  fabrics  of 
foreign  import.  This  had  put  "whatever  there  was  of  the  two 
alleged  leading  traits  of  Yankee  character,  acquisitiveness  and 
ingenuity,  on  the  qui  vive  to  obtain  those  goods  at  the  former 
prices,  for  the  purpose  of  home  speculation.  And  Canada, 
being  separated  by  a  land  boundary  only  from  the  States,  pre- 
sented to  the  greedy  eyes  of  hundreds  of  village  mammonists, 
who,  like  El  wood,  were  plodding  along  at  the  slow  jog  of  twenty 
per  cent  profits,  opportunities  of  so  purchasing  as  to  quadruple 
their  gains ;  which  were  quite  too  severe  a  test  for  their  slender 
stock  of  patriotism  to  withstand.  It  was  but  a  natural  con- 
sequence, therefore,  that  all  of  them  whose  love  of  gain  was 
not  overcome  by  their  fear  of  loss  by  detection  and  the  forfeiture 
of  their  goods,  should  soon  be  found,  in  spite  of  all  the  vigilance 
and  activity  of  the  host  of  custom-house  officers  by  whom  the 
government  had  manned  the  Canadian  lines,  secretly  engaged 
in  that  contraband  traffic. 

The  history  of  smuggling  as  carried  on  between  the  Northern 
States  and  Canada,  from  the  enactment  of  the  embargo  at  the 
close  of  1807,  and  especially  from  the  enactment  of  the  more 
stringent  non-intercourse  law  of  1810,  to  the  declaration  of 
war  in  1812,  and  even,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  to  the  pro- 
clamation of  peace  in  1815,  is  a  portion  of  our  annals  that  yet 
remains  almost  wholly  unwritten.  Although  the  contraband 
trade  in  question  was  doubtless  more  or  less  followed  along  the 
entire  extent  of  our  northern  boundaries,  from  east  to  west, 
yet  along  no  portions  of  them  half  so  extensively,  probably,  as 
those  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  which,  from  their  close 
contiguity  to  Montrt^al  and  Quebec,  the  only  imporiing  cities 
of  the  Canadas,  affiDrded  the  most  tempting  facilities  and  the 
best  chances  for  success.  Along  these  borders,  indeed,  it  was 
for  years  one  almost  continuous  scene  of  wild  warfare  between 
the  custom-house  officers  and  their  assistants,  and  the  smug- 
glers and  their  abettors,  both  parties  carrying  arms,  and  the 
smugglers,  especially,  going  armed  to  the  teeth.     In  these  skir- 


THE    TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  21 

mislies  many  were,  at  different  times,  killed  outright ;  many 
more  were  missing,  even  on  the  side  of  the  officials,  for  whom 
dark  fates  were  naturally  conjectured;  while  hundreds,  on 
both  sides,  were  crippled  or  otherwise  seriously  wounded. 
Sometimes,  when  a  double  sleigh,  or  wagon,  deeply  laden  with 
smuggled  goods,  in  charge  of  three  or  four  stout  and  resolute 
fellows  aboard,  who,  with  as  many  more,  perhaps,  of  their  con- 
federates on  horseback  or  in  light  teams,  before  and  behind, 
were  making  their  way,  at  full  speed,  with  their  prize,  from 
the  line  to  some  secret  and  safe  depository  in  the  interior,  was 
suddenly  beset  and  brought  to  a  stand  by  an  equal  or  greater 
number  of  government  officials,  deeply  intent  on  a  seizure,  a 
most  furious  conflict  would  ensue,  in  which  the  combatants, 
growing  desperate  for  the  seizure  or  defence  of  the  prize,  would 
ply  their  hard  yeoman  fists,  clubs,  loaded  whipstocks,  or  what- 
ever was  at  hand,  with  terrible  effect,  and  often  prolong  the 
melee  till  the  snow  or  ground  was  encrimsoned  with  blood,  and 
scarcely  an  uninjured  man  remained  on  the  ground.  Sometimes 
the  besetting  officials  were  made  prisoners,  and  marched  off  at 
the  cocked  pistol's  mouth  into  the  deep  woods,  and,  after  being 
led  forward  and  backward  through  the  labyrinths  of  the  forest 
till  bewildered  and  lost,  were  suddenly  left  to  find  their  way 
out  as  they  best  could,  —  a  feat  which  there  was  no  danger  of 
their  accompHshing  till  long  after  both  the  smugglers  and  their 
goods  were  beyond  the  reach  of  pursuers.  And  sometimes  the 
smugglers,  when  closely  pressed  and  seeing  no  hope  of  rescue 
if  taken,  as  their  last  resort,  drew  their  dirks  and  pistols ;  and 
wo  to  the  official  who  then  persisted  in  attempting  a  seizui-e. 

But  the  system  of  tactics  more  generally  practiced  by  the 
smugglers  was  that  of  craft  and  concealment,  carried  out  by 
some  ingenious  measure  to  prevent  all  suspicion  of  the  times 
and  places  of  their  movements,  by  travelling  in  the  night  or  in 
stormy  weather,  or  in  the  most  unfrequented  routes,  and,  when 
pursued,  by  puttmg  the  pursuers  on  false  scents,  or  by  feints 
of  running  away  with  loads  of  empty  boxes  to  mislead  pursuit, 


22  GAUT  gueley;    or, 

till  the  goods,  which  had  been  previously  taken  to  some  place 
of  temporary  concealment,  could  be  removed  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  search  and  sent  on  their  destination. 

Such  were  the  general  features  of  the  illicit  traffic  which 
characterized  the  period  of  which  we  are  treating,  —  a  traffic 
which  laid  the  foundations  of  many  a  village  fortune,  whose 
dashing  heirs  would  not  probably  be  very <  willing  to  acknow- 
ledge the  true  source  from  which  the  wealth  and  position  they 
may  now  be  enjoying  was  derived,  —  and  finally  a  traffic  which, 
in  its  attending  homicides  and  desperate  affrays,  its  hot  pursuits 
and  marvellous  escapes,  its  curious  concealments  and  artful  sub- 
terfuges, and,  lastly,  in  the  family  and  neighborhood  feuds  which 
it  left  behind,  would  furnish  materials  for  a  series  of  tales  as 
wild  and  romantic,  if  not  always  as  creditable  to  the  actors,  a« 
any  thing  ever  yet  spread  before  the  public. 

It  was  this  questionable  business  which  was  then  occupying 
the  thoughts  of  Gaut  Gurley,  and  in  which  it  was  his  aim  to 
involve  Mark  Elwood,  whom  he  had  pitched  on  for  the  purpose, 
as  not  only  a  man  of  sufficient  means,  with  no  scruples  which 
could  not  be  overcome,  but  a  man  whom  he  believed  he  could 
make  dependent  on  liim,  when  once  enlisted,  and  to  whom  he 
could  dictate  terms  for  his  own  services.  And  it  is  no  wonder 
that  a  man  of  his  dark  cunning,  working  on  one  of  the  obtuse 
moral  sense,  the  love  of  money,  and  the  thoughtlessness  of  con- 
sequences, of  Elwood,  should,  as  he  did,  soon  completely  succeed 
in  his  objects.  For,  after  having  kindled  Elwood's  political 
prejudices  against  the  embargo  law,  which  was  held  up  to  be 
such  an  outrage  on  the  commercial  rights  of  the  North  that  it 
were  almost  a  merit  to  violate  it,  Gaut  proceeded  to  show  how 
enormous  were  the  profits  to  be  made  in  this  trade,  and  how 
safely  the  goods  might  be  smuggled  in,  through  the  back  roads 
and  forest  routes  with  which  he  was  familiar,  by  employing 
Frenchmen,  as  he  could,  at  a  cheap  rate,  to  bring  them  in  large 
panniers  on  the  backs  of  their  Canadian  ponies,  or  by  engaging 
Indians,  who  could  be  enlisted  for  even  less  wages,  to  bring 


THE   TRAPPEKS   OP   UMBAGOG.  23 

them  in  knapsacks  through  the  woods.  And  so  clearly  did  he 
demonstrate  all  this  to  the  mind  of  Elwood,  that  the  latter, 
being  unable  any  longer  to  resist  the  temptation  of  thus  secur- 
ing the  gains  of  a  traffic,  by  the  side  of  which  the  small  profits 
of  his  store  at  home  dwindled  into  contempt,  soon  resolved  to 
engage  in  it. 

From  this  time  Gaut  was  in  high  favor  with  Elwood.  The 
two,  indeed,  seemed  to  have  suddenly  become  inseparable. 
They  were  always  found  together,  and  always  engaged  in  some 
closely  private  conversation,  the  purport  of  which  no  others 
were  permitted  to  know,  or  were  enabled  to  conjecture,  except 
from  the  new  business  movement  which  was  observed  soon  to 
follow  the  forming  of  their  mysterious  connection.  And  that 
movement  was  that  Elwood  put  his  store  in  charge  of  a  clerk, 
and,  giving  out  that  he  was  about  to  engage  more  extensively 
in  the  fur  trade,  which  would  require  him  to  be  often  absent, 
went  off  with  a  strong  and  fleet  double  team,  in  a  northerly 
direction,  with  Gaut  for  his  oiily  companion. 

With  the  advent  of  this  new  era  in  the  life  of  Elwood,  every 
thing  became  changed  about  his  establishment.  His  bustling 
presence,  with  his  bantering,  off-hand,  and  communicative  talk, 
no  longer  enlivened  the  store  and  neighborhood ;  and  people, 
who  before  seemed  to  know  every  thing  about  his  business  and 
plans,  now  knew  nothing.  For  he  was  now  most  of  the  time 
absent  in  conducting  his  operations  at  the  north,  or  in  his 
stealthy  journeyings  thence  to  the  cities,  to  receive  and  dispose 
of  the  valuable  packages  which  he  had  put  on  their  passage. 
He  generally  came  and  departed  in  the  night,  and,  even  during 
his  brief  stays  at  home,  he  kept  himself  secluded,  seeming  to 
wish  to  be  seen  as  little  as  possible.  All  this,  of  course,  led  to 
considerable  talk  and  various  speculations;  but  he  so  well 
shrouded  his  movements  from  the  public,  and  kept  afloat  so 
many  plausible  stories  to  account  for  his  change  of  business, 
that  he  prevented  suspicions  from  taking  any  definite  shape 


24  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

about  home,  or  spreading  abroad  to  any  extent  that  endangered 
his  operations,  although  those  operations  were  constantly  con- 
tinued for  years,  and,  from  cautious  and  small  beginnings,  at 
length  became  more  bold,  extensive,  and  successful,  perhaps, 
than  any  thing  of  the  kind  ever  carried  on  in  the  interior  of 
New  England.  But  there  was  one  whose  suspicions  of  the  true 
character  of  the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged,  notwith- 
standing his  denials  and  evasions,  even  to  her,  and  whose  fears 
and  anxieties  on  account  of  the  dangers  she  believed  he  was 
constantly  incurring,  not  only  from  seizure  of  his  property  and 
the  personal  violence  to  which  he  was  exposed  in  trying  to 
defend  it,  but  from  his  association  of  reckless  confederates, 
especially  Gaut  Gurley,  of  whose  dark  character,  as  little  as 
she  had  seen  of  him,  she  was  already  filled  with  an  instinctive 
dread, — there  was  one  whose  suspicions,  and  consequent 
anxieties,  he  could  never  succeed  in  quieting ;  and  that  was  his 
discreet  and  faithful  wife.  She  had,  during  the  first  year  or 
two  of  his  new  career,  often  expostulated  with  him  on  the 
doubtful  character  of  his  business  ;  but  he,  by  always  making 
light  of  her  fears,  by  telling  her  some  truth  and  withholding 
more,  and  disclosing  as  great  a  part  of  his  astonishing  gains  as 
he  supposed  would  pass  with  her  for  honest  acquisitions,  gener- 
ally silenced,  if  he  did  not  convince,  her ;  and  she,  finding  him 
always  light-hearted  and  satisfied  with  himself,  when  he  came 
home,  finally  ceased  her  remonstrances,  having  concluded  she 
would  try  to  conquer  her  doubts  and  fears,  or  at  least  say  no 
more  on  the  subject. 

At  length,  however,  after  a  prolonged  absence  on  a  tour,  in 
which  he  had  a  large  venture  at  stake,  he  came  home  in  a 
greatly  altered  mood.  His  usual  buoyancy  of  spirits  was  gone ; 
he  appeared  gloomy  and  abstracted ;  and,  although,  in  reply  to 
the  anxious  inquiries  of  his  wife,  he  represented  himself  to  have 
been  entire  successful, — even  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever 
before, — yet  it  was  quite  obvious  that  something  very  untoward, 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  25 

to  say  the  least,  must  have  happened  to  him.  He  would  not 
leave  his  house  after  dark,  he  placed  loaded  pistols  within  the 
reach  of  his  hand  when  he  went  to  bed,  and  he  would  often 
start  up  wildly  from  his  sleep.  His  whole  conduct,  indeed,  was 
such  as  to  excite  the  deeper  concern  of  his  perplexed  wife,  for 
she  feared  it  betokened  his  connection  with  something  very 
wrong,  —  something  that  had  brought  him  into  deadly  peril, — 
something,  perhaps,  done  to  others,  which  made  her  tremble  to 
think  of,  but  something,  at  all  events,  which  made  her  more 
than  ever  dread  to  have  him  go  back  again  to  the  scene  of  his 
operations.  But  of  the  last-named  of  her  fears  she  was  shortly 
reheved ;  for,  to  her  agreeable  surprise,  he  soon  assured  her  of 
his  determination  to  break  off  entirely  from  the  business  he  had 
been  pursuing,  and,  as  much  to  her  gratification  as  to  the 
evident  vexation  of  Gaut  Gurley,  who  had  come  on  to  look  his 
employer  up,  he  firmly  persisted  in  carrying  out  his  resolution. 
Kor  was  this  all.  He  rapidly  drew  his  business  to  a  close, 
broke  off  his  old  associations,  privately  left  the  place,  and,  in  a 
few  weeks,  sent  for  his  family  to  join  him  in  Boston,  where  it 
appeared  he  had  been  for  some  time  secretly  transferring  his 
capital,  and  where  he  had  now  established  himself  in  business, 
with  all  the  means  required,  even  there,  of  doing  it  to  the  best 
advantage.  And  for  some  years  he  did  engage  in  business  to 
advantage,  the  same  strangely  good  luck  attending  him,  and 
prospering  wonderfully  in  all  he  undertook,  till  he  gained  the 
reputation  of  being  among  the  wealthiest  of  the  city.  But  the 
spoiler  came  in  a  second  appearance  of  Gaut  Gurley,  who, 
having  squandered  in  the  country  the  bounteous  sums  of  money 
which  Elwood  had  paid  him  for  his  services,  now  followed  the 
latter  to  the  city.  And,  with  the  coming  of  that  personage, 
together  with  the  foolish  ambition  that  had,  about  that  time, 
seized  Elwood,  to  outshine  some  of  his  city  competitors  in  dis- 
play and  expensive  living,  commenced  the  wane  of  a  fortune 
which,  as  large  as  it  was,  it  had  required  but  two  short  years 

3 


26  GAUT  GURLEY. 

to  bring  to  the  verge  on  which  we  represented  its  unhappy- 
master  as  standing  in  the  opening  scene  of  our  story. 

Having  now  related  all  we  designed  in  this  retrospect  of 
events,  we  will  return  from  the  somewhat  long  but  necessary 
digression,  and  take  up  the  thread  of  the  narrative  where  we 
left  it. 


CHAPTER    III. 

"  1  strive  in  vain  to  set  the  evil  forth. 
The  words  that  should  sufficiently  accurse 
And  execrate  the  thing,  hath  need 
Come  glowing  from  the  lips  of  eldest  hell. 
Among  the  saddest  in  the  den  of  woe, 
Most  sad ;  among  the  damn'd,  most  deeply  damn'd." 

Once  on  a  time,  before  the  dark  catalogue  of  vices  was  made 
complete  by  the  wicked  inventions  of  men,  or  the  evil  made  to 
counterbalance  the  good  in  the  world,  the  Arch  Enemy  of  man- 
kind, deeply-  sensible  of  the  vantage-ground  occupied  by  the 
antagonistic  Being,  and  anxiously  casting  about  him  for  the 
means  of  securing  an  equilibrium  of  power,  called  around  him 
a  small  company,  consisting  of  those  of  his  Infernal  subjects 
whom  he  had  previously  noted  for  their  excellence  in  subtility 
and  devilish  invention,  and,  after  fully  explaining  his  wants 
and  wishes  to  his  keenly  appreciating  auditory,  made  procla- 
mation among  them,  that  the  Demon  who  should  invent  a  new 
vice,  which,  under  the  name  and  guise  of  Pastime,  should  be 
best  calculated  to  seduce  men  from  the  paths  of  virtue,  pervert 
their  hearts,  ruin  them  for  earth  and  educate  them  for  hell, 
should  be  awarded  a  crown  of  honor,  with  rank  and  prerogative 
second  only  to  his  own.  He  then,  with  many  a  gracious  and 
encouraging  word  to  incite  in  them  a  spirit  of  emulation,  and 
nerve  them  for  exertion  in  the  important  enterprise  thus  set  be- 
fore them,  dismissed  them,  to  go  forth  among  men,  observe, 
study,  and  come  again  before  him  on  a  designated  time,  to  report 
the  results  of  their  respective  doings,  and  submit  them  to  his 
decision.  Eager  to  do  the  will  of  their  lord  and  Lucifer,  as 
well  as  to  gain  the  tempting  distinctions  involved  in  his  award, 

(27) 


28 

the  commissioned  fiend-group  dispersed,  and  scattered  them- 
selves over  the  earth,  which  was  understood  to  be  their  field  of 
operations.  And,  after  noting,  as  long  as  they  chose,  all  the 
diflTerent  phases  of  human  society,  the  secret  inclinations  of 
those  composing  it,  their  follies,  weaknesses,  and  points  most 
vulnerable  to  temptation,  they  each  returned  to  the  dark  domin- 
ions whence  they  came,  to  cogitate  in  retirement,  concoct  and 
reduce  to  form  those  schemes  for  securing  the  great  object  in 
view,  which  their  observations  and  discoveries  on  earth  had 
suggested. 

At  the  time  appointed  for  the  hearing  and  decision,  the 
demoniac  competitors  again  assembled  before  their  imperial  ar- 
biter ;  not  this  time  in  secret  conclave,  but  in  the  presence  of 
thousands  of  congregated  fiends,  who,  having  been  apprised  of 
the  new  plan  about  to  be  presented  for  peopling  the  Common- 
wealth of  Hell  with  recruits  from  earth,  had  come  up  in  all 
directions  from  their  dismal  abodes,  to  hear  those  plans  reported, 
and  witness  the  awarding  of  the  prize  for  the  one  judged  most 
worthy  of  adoption.  Lucifer  then  mounted  his  throne,  com- 
manded silence,  and  ordered  the  competitors  to  advance  and 
present,  in  succession,  such  plans  as  they  would  lay  before  him 
for  his  consideration  and  decision.  They  did  so  ;  and  one  of 
them,  a  young  and  genteel-looking  devil,  to  whom,  from  a  sup- 
pose congeniality  of  tastes  and  feelings  with  the  objects  of  his 
care,  had  been  especially  assigned  the  duty  of  supervising  the 
fashionable  walks  of  society,  now  stepped  confidently  forward 
and  said : 

"  I  present  for  your  consideration,  most  honored  Lucifer,  I 
present  Fashion  as  one  of  those  social  institutions  of  men  which 
might  the  most  easily  become,  with  a  little  fostering  at  our 
hands,  to  us  the  most  productive  of  vices,  under  a  name  least 
calculated  to  alarm.  It  already  holds  an  almost  omnipotent 
sway  over  the  wealthier,  or  what  they  call  the  higher,  classes 
of  society,  who  hesitate  at  no  sins  that  can  be  committed  with 
its  sanction ;  and  the  disposition  is  every  day  growing  stronger 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UilBAGOG.  29 

and  stronger,  among  all  classes,  to  fall  in  with  its  behests.  En- 
courage its  progress,  make  its  rule  absolute  with  all,  and  the 
world's  boasted  morality  would  trouble  us,  devils,  no  more. 
This  would  be  the  direct  and  natural  result  among  the  most 
wealthy,  who  would  leave  no  vice  unpracticed,  no  sin  uncom- 
mitted, provided  they  could  excuse  themselves  under  plea  that 
it  was  fashionable.  With  those  of  more  limited  means  the 
effect  would  be  still  better ;  for  devotion  to  Fashion  would 
beget  extravagance  —  extravagance,  poverty  —  poverty,  des- 
peration —  desperation,  crime ;  so  with  all  classes,  the  result, 
for  our  purpose,  would  be  equally  favorable  and  much  the  same. 
The  new  vice  I  therefore  propose  is  the  one  to  be  made  out  of, 
and  go  under  the  name  of.  Fashion." 

"  There  may  be  something  in  this  conception,"  said  Lucifer, 
thoughtfully,  after  the  speaker  had  closed ;"  "  but  is  it  safe 
against  all  contingencies  ?  Wliat  if  the  world  should  take  it 
into  their  heads  to  make  it  fashionable  to  be  good  ?" 

"  Not  the  least  danger  of  that,"  rejoined  the  other,  promptly. 
"  That  is  a  contingency  about  as  likely  to  happen  as  that 
your  highness  should  turn  Christian,"  he  added,  with  a  sardonic 
grin. 

'•  You  are  right,"  responded  Lucifer ;  "  and,  as  your  scheme 
comes  within  the  rule,  on  the  score  of  originality,  we  will  re- 
serve it  for  consideration." 

"  My  plan,"  said  the  next  demon  who  spoke,  "  consists  in  in- 
citing man  to  the  general  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  under  the 
plea  of  taking  a  social  glass ;  for,  let  the  use  of  these  become 
general,  and  all  men  were  devils  ready  made,  and " 

"  True,  most  true  !  "  interrupted  Lucifer  ;  "  but  that  is  not 
new.  That  is  a  vice  I  invented  myself,  as  long  ago  as  the  time 
Noah  was  floating  about  in  the  ark,  and  the  first  man  I  caught 
with  it  was  the  old  patriarch  himself.  Since  then  it  has  been 
my  most  profitable  agent  in  the  earth,  bringing  more  recruits 
to  my  kingdom  than  all  the  other  vices  put  together.  But  our 
3* 


30  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

present  movement  was  to  insure  something  new.  The  plan, 
therefore,  does  not  come  within  the  rule,  and  must  be  set  aside." 

"  The  new  vice  which  I  propose,"  said  the  third  demon  who 
came  forward,  "  is  involved  in  the  general  cultivation  of  music, 
which  I  contend  would  render  men  effeminate,  indolent,  volup- 
tuous, and  finally  vicious  and  corrupt,  so  that  whole  nations 
might  eventually  be  kept  out  of  heaven  and  secured  for  hell 
through  its  deteriorating  influences." 

"  I  am  not  a  little  dubious  about  trying  to  make  a  vice  out  of 
music,  which  would  be  all  reliable  for  our  purposes,"  remarked 
Lucifer,  with  a  negative  shake  of  the  head.  "  I  fear  it  might 
prove  a  sword  which  would  cut  both  ways.  It  may,  it  is  true, 
be  doing  a  pretty  fair  business  just  now  in  some  localities  ;  but 
methinks  I  already  see,  in  the  dim  vista  of  the  earth's  future,  a 
cunning  Wesley  springing  up,  and  exhorting  his  brethren  '  Not 
to  let  the  Devil  have  all  the  good  tunes,  but  appropriate  them 
to  the  service  of  the  Lord.'  Now  if  the  religious  world  should 
have  wit  enough,  as  I  greatly  fear  me  they  \fould,  to  follow  the 
sagacious  hint  of  such  a  leader,  they  might  make  music  an 
agency  which  would  enlist  two  followers  for  the  white  banner 
of  Heaven  where  it  would  one  for  the  red  banner  of  Hell.  The 
experiment  would  be  one  of  too  doubtful  expediency  to  warrant 
the  trial.     The  proposition,  therefore,  cannot  be  entertained." 

Many  other  methods  of  creating  an  efficient  new  vice  were 
then  successively  proposed  by  the  different  competitors ;  but 
they  were  all,  for  some  deficiency,  or  want  of  originality, 
in  turn,  rejected,  till  one  more  only  remained  to  be  announced ; 
v^hen  its  author,  an  old,  dark-eyed  demon,  who  was  much 
noted  for  his  infernal  cunning,  and  who,  conscious  perhaps  of 
the  superiority  of  his  device,  had  contrived  to  defer  its  announce- 
ment till  the  last,  now  came  forward,  and  said : 

"  The  scheme  I  have  devised  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
common  object  of  the  patriotic  enterprise  which  your  Highness 
has  put  afoot,  proposes  a  new  vice,  which,  passing  under  the 
guise  of  innocent  pastime,  will  not  only,  by  itself,  be  fully  equal 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP   UMBAGOG.  31 

to  any  other  of  the  many  vices  now  known  among  men,  for  its 
certainty  to  lure  them  to  its  embrace,  fascinate,  infatuate,  de- 
prave, and  destroy  them,  but  will  insure  the  exercise  and  com- 
bine the  powers  of  them  all.  It  addi*esses  itself  to  the  intellec- 
tual by  the  implied  challenge  it  holds  out  to  them  to  make  a 
trial  of  their  skill;  it  appears  to  the  unfortunate  in  business 
as  a  welcome  friend,  which  is  rarely  turned  away ;  it  presents 
to  pride  and  vanity  the  means  of  gratification  that  are  not  to  be 
rejected ;  it  holds  out  to  avarice  an  irresistible  temptation ;  it 
begets  habits  of  drunkenness ;  and  thus  insures  all  the  fruits  of 
that  desolating  vice ;  it  engenders  envy,  hatred,  and  the  spirit 
of  revenge  ;  in  short,  it  brings  into  play  every  evil  thought  and 
passion  that  ever  entered  the  head  and  heart  of  man,  while  it 
the  most  securely  holds  its  victims,  and  most  speedily  hunts 
them  down  to  ruin  and  death." 

"  The  name  ?  the  name  ? "  eagerly  shouted  an  hundred 
voices  from  the  excited  fiend-throng  around. 

"  The  name,"  resumed  the  speaker,  in  reply,  "  the  name  by 
which  I  propose  to  christen  this  new  and  terrible  device  of  mine, 
to  counteract  the  power  of  virtue,  and  curtail  the  dominions  of 
Heaven,  is  Gambling  !" 

"  Gambhng !  Gambling !"  responded  all  hell,  in  thunders  of 
applause ;  "  and  Gambling  let  it  be,"  shouted  Lucifer,  as  the 
prize  was  thus  awarded  by  acclamation  to  the  distinguished  in- 
ventor of  Gambling. 

From  this  supposable  scene  among  the  demons,  we  pass,  by 
no  unnatural  transition,  to  a  kindred  one  among  men. 

In  a  back,  secluded  room,  in  the  third  story  of  a  public  house 
in  Boston,  of  questionable  respectability,  there  might  have  been 
found,  a  few  hours  after  the  dispersion  of  the  party  before  de- 
scribed, a  small  band  of  men  sitting  around  a  table,  intently 
engaged  in  games  of  chance,  in  which  money  was  at  stake ; 
while  on  a  sideboard  stood  several  bottles  of  different  kinds 
of  liquors,  with  a  liberal  supply  of  crackers  and  cigars.  Of  this 
company,  two,  who  have  been  already  introduced  to  the  reader, 


32 

—  Mark  Elwood  and  Gaut  Gurley,  —  seemed  to  be  especially 
pitted  against  each  other  in  the  game.  It  was  now  deep  into 
the  night,  and  Elwood  said  something  about  going  home.  But 
his  remark  being  received  only  with  jeers  by  the  company,  he 
sank  into  an  abashed  silence  and  played  on.  Another  hour 
elapsed,  and  he  spoke  of  it  again,  but  less  decidedly.  Another 
passed,  and  he  seemed  wholly  to  have  forgotten  his  purpose ; 
for  he,  as  well  as  all  the  rest  of  the  company,  had,  by  this  time, 
become  intensely  absorbed  in  the  play,  allowing  themselves 
no  respite  or  intermission,  except  to  snatch  occasionally  a  glass 
of  liquor  from  the  sideboard,  in  the  entrancing  business  before 
them.  And,  as  the  sport  proceeded,  deeper  and  deeper  grew 
the  excitement  among  the  infatuated  participants,  till  every 
sense  and  feeling  seemed  lost  to  every  thing  save  the  result  of 
each  rapidly  succeeding  game ;  and  the  heat  of  concentrated 
thought  and  passion  gleamed  fiercely  from  every  eye,  and  found 
vent,  in  repeated  exclamations  of  triumph  or  despair,  from  every 
tongue,  according  to  the  varying  fortunes  of  the  parties  engaged. 
On  one  side  was  heard  the  loud  and  exultant  shout  of  the 
winner  at  his  success,  and  on  the  other,  the  low  bitter  curse  of 
the  loser  at  his  disappointment ;  the  countenance  of  the  one, 
in  his  joy  and  exultation,  assuming  the  self-satisfied  and  domi- 
neering air  of  the  victor  and  master,  and  the  countenance  of  the 
other,  in  his  grief  and  envy,  darkening  into  the  mingled  look 
of  the  demon  and  the  slave. 

And  thus  played  on  this  desperate  band  of  gamesters  till 
morning  light,  which,  now  stealing  through  the  shutters  of  their 
darkened  room,  came  and  joined  its  voiceless  monitions  with 
those  which  their  consciences  had  long  since  given  them,  in 
warning  them  to  break  up  and  return  to  their  families,  made 
wretched  by  their  absence.  So  completely,  however,  had  they 
abandoned  themselves  to  the  fatal  witcheries  of  the  play,  that 
they  heeded  not  even  this  significant  admonition ;  but,  with  un- 
easy glances  towards  the  windows,  to  note  the  progress  of  the 
unwelcome  intrusions  of  day,  turned  with  the  redoubled  eager- 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  33 

ness  often  sliown  by  those  who  know  their  time  is  limited  to 
their  hellish  engagement. 

Through  the  whole  night,  Fortune  seemed  to  have  held 
nearly  an  even  scale  between  Elwood  and  his  special  adversary^ 
Gaut  Gurley,  contrary  to  the  evident  anticipations  of  the  latter, 
and  despite  all  his  attempts  to  secure  an  advantage.  Thus  far, 
however,  he  had  signally  failed  in  his  purpose  ;  and,  at  the  last 
gam^e,  Elwood  had  even  won  of  him  the  largest  sum  that  had  as 
yet  been  put  at  stake  between  them.  This  seemed  to  drive  him 
almost  to  madness  ;  and  in  his  desperation  he  loudly  demanded 
that  the  stakes  should  be  doubled  for  the  next  trial.  It  was 
done.     The  game  was  played,  and  Gurley  was  again  the  loser. 

"  I  will  now  stay  no  longer,"  said  Elwood,  rising.  "  I  was 
forced  here  to-night,  as  you  well  know,  Gurley,  against  my  will, 
and  against  all  reason,  to  stop  your  clamor  for  a  chance  to  win 
back  what  you  absurdly  called  your  money  lost  at  our  last  sit- 
ting ;  though  Heaven  knows  that  what  I  then  won  was  but  a  piti- 
ful fraction  of  the  amount  you  have  taken  from  me,  within  the 
last  two  years,  in  the  same  or  in  a  worse  way.  I  have  now 
given  you  your  chance,  —  yes,  chance  upon  chance,  all  night,  — 
till  your  claim  has  been  a  dozen  times  cancelled ;  and,  I  repeat^ 
I  will  stay  no  longer." 

"You  shall !"  fiercely  cried  Gurley,  with  an  oath.  "You 
shall  stay  to  give  me  another  chance,  or  I  will  brand  you  as  a 
trickster  and  a  sneak ! " 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Elwood,  turning  to  the  company,  in  an 
expostulating  tone,  "  gentlemen,  I  appeal  to  you  all  if  I  have 
not " 

"  I  will  have  no  appeal,"  interrupted  Gurley,  in  a  voice 
trembling  with  rage.  "I  say  I  will  have  another  chance, 
or " 

"  Take  it,  then,"  hastily  interposed  Elwood,  as  if  unwilli^ 
to  let  the  other  finish  the  sentence ;  "  take  it :  what  will  you 
have  the  stakes  ?  " 

"Double  the  last." 


34  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

"Double?" 

"Yes,  double!" 

"  Have  your  own  way,  then,"  said  Elwood,  with  forced  com- 
posure, taking  up  and  shuffling  the  cards  for  the  important 
game. 

The  stake  was  for  a  thousand ;  and  the  trembling  antagonists 
played  as  if  life  and  death  hung  on  the  event.  And  the  whole 
company,  indeed,  forgetful  of  their  own  comparatively  slight 
interest,  in  the  momentous  one  thus  put  at  stake,  at  once  turned 
their  eyes  on  the  two  players,  and  watched  the  result  with 
breathless  mterest.  That  result  was  soon  disclosed ;  when,  to 
the  surprise  of  all,  and  the  dismay  of  Gaut  Gurley,  the  victory 
once  more  strangely  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mark  Elwood,  who,  gath- 
ering up  the  stakes  with  trembling  eagerness,  hastily  rose  from 
the  table,  as  if  to  depart. 

"  What  in  the  name  of  Tophet  does  all  this  mean  ?  "  fiercely 
exclaimed  Gurley,  throwing  an  angry  and  suspicious  look 
round  the  table  upon  those  who  had  doubtless  been,  at  other 
sittings,  his  confederates  in  fleecing  Elwood.  "  Yes,  what  is 
the  meaning  of  this  ?     I  ask  you,  and  you,  sir  ?  " 

"  Better  ask  your  own  partner,"  said  one  of  the  men  ad- 
dressed, with  a  defiant  look. 

"  Elwood  ?     Pooh ! "  exclaimed  Gaut,  with  a  bitter  sneer. 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  responded  the  former.  "  He  may  have  as 
good  luck  as  the  best  of  us,  as  it  appears  he  has  had.  And 
hark  ye,  Gaut,  you  look  things  at  us  that  it  might  not  be  safe 
for  you  to  say  in  this  room." 

"  Gentlemen,  you  will  all  bear  me  out  in  leaving,  now,"  here 
interposed  Elwood,  beginnmg  to  make  towards  the  door. 

"  Stop,  sir ! "  thundered  Gaut.  "  You  are  not  a-going  to 
sneak  ofi*  with  all  that  money  in  your  pocket,  by  a  d — d  sight ! ' 
^  "  Why  not,  sir  ?  "  replied  Elwood ;  "  why  not,  for  all  you  can 
say?" 

"  Because  I  have  lost,  sir ! "  shouted  Gurley,  hoarse  with  rage. 
"  I  have  lost  three  games  running,  —  lost  all  I  have.    I  demand 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  35 

a  fair  chance  to  win  it  back ;  and  that  chance  I  will  have,  or 
I'll  make  you,  Mark  Elwood,  curse  the  hour  you  refused  it." 

"  Gaut  Giu'ley,  you  insatiate  fiend ! "  exclaimed  Elwood,  in 
a  tone  of  mingled  anger  and  distress ;  "  you  it  was  who  first  led 
me  into  this  accursed  habit  of  play,  by  which  you  have  robbed 
me  of  untold  thousands  yourself,  and  been  the  means  of  my 
being  robbed  of  thousands  more  by  others.  You  have  brought 
me  to  the  door  of  ruin  before,  and  would  now  take  all  I  have 
to  save  me  from  absolute  bankruptcy." 

"  Whining  hypocrite ! "  cried  Gurley,  starting  up  in  rage. 
"  Do  you  tell  that  story  when  you  have  my  last  dollar  in  your 
pocket?  But  your  pitiful  whining  shall  not  avail  you.  If  you 
leave  this  room  alive,  you  leave  that  money  behind  you." 

"  Stop,  stop ! "  here  interposed  one  of  the  company,  who  had 
noted  what  had  inadvertently  fallen  from  Elwood,  in  his  warmth, 
respecting  his  apprehended  bankruptcy ;  "  stop,  no  such  recrim- 
inations and  threatenings  here  !  I  can  show  Elwood  a  way  to 
dispose  of  a  part  of  his  money,  at  least,  without  bringing  on 
any  one  the  charge  of  robbing  or  being  robbed.  Here  is  a 
note  of  your  signing,  Mr.  Elwood,  —  a  debt  of  honor,  —  for  a 
couple  of  hundreds,  contracted  in  this  very  room,  you  will  re- 
member.    You  may  as  well  pay  it." 

"  I  have  a  similar  bit  of  paper,"  said  another,  coming  for- 
ward and  presenting  a  note  for  a  still  larger  sum. 

"  And  I,  likewise,"  said  a  third,  joining  the  group,  with  an 
additional  piece  of  evidence  of  Elwood's  folly,  in  the  shape  of  a 
gambling  note ;  "  and  I  shall  insist  on  payment  with  the  rest, 
seeing  the  money  cannot  be  disposed  of  between  you  and  Gaut 
without  a  quarrel  and  danger  of  bloodshed." 

With  a  perplexed  and  troubled  an-,  Elwood  paced  the  room 
a  moment,  without  uttering  a  word  in  reply  to  the  different  de- 
mands that  had  so  unexpectedly  been  made  upon  him.  He 
glanced  furtively  towards  the  door,  as  if  calculating  the  chances 
of  escaping  through  it  before  any  one  could  interpose  to  pre- 
vent him.     He  then  glanced  inquuingly  at  the  company  for 


36  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

such  indications  of  sympathy  or  forbearance  as  might  warrant 
the  attempt ;  but  in  their  countenances  he  read  only  that  which 
should  deter  him  from  resorting  to  any  such  means  of  escaping 
the  dilemma  in  which  he  now  found  himself.  And,  suddenly 
stopping  short  and  turning  to  the  new  claimants  for  his  money, 
he  said : 

'  "  Well,  gentlemen,  have  your  way,  then.  I  had  hoped  to  be 
permitted  to  carry  away  money  enough  to  meet  my  bills  and 
engagements  of  to-day, — at  least,  as  much  as  I  brought  here. 
But,  as  I  am  not  to  be  allowed  that  privilege,  hand  on  your 
paper,  every  scrap  of  my  signing,  and  you  shall  have  your 
pay." 

A  half-dozen  notes  of  hand  were  instantly  produced  and 
thrown  upon  the  table,  and  the  holder  of  each  was  paid  off  in 
turn ;  the  last  of  whom  drew  from  Elwood  nearly  every  dollar 
he  had  in  his  possession. 

"  There,  gentlemen,"  he  exclaimed,  with  a  sort  of  desperate 
calmness,  "  in  this  Hue  of  deal,  at  least,  my  accounts  are  all 
squared.     I  am  quits  with  you  all." 

"  Not  with  me,  by  a  d — d  sight ! "  exclaimed  Gurley,  no 
longer  able  to  restrain  his  rage  at  being  thus  baulked  in  his 
desperate  purpose  of  getting  hold  of  Elwood's  money,  by  fair 
means  or  foul,  before  permitting  him  to  leave  the  room.  "  Not 
with  me,  sir,  till  the  amount  of  that  last  stake,  which  was  just 
enough  to  make  me  whole,  is  again  in  my  pocket ;  and  I'll  fol- 
low you  to  the  gates  of  hell,  but  I'll  have  it ! " 

Cowering  and  trembling  beneath  the  threats  and  fiendish 
glances  of  the  other,  Elwood  siezed  his  hat,  and  rushed  from 
the  room. 

On  escaping  from  this  "  den  of  thieves,"  and  gaining  the 
street  below,  Elwood's  first  thought  was  of  home  and  his  shame- 
fully neglected  family,  and  he  turned  his  steps  in  that  direction. 
But,  before  proceeding  far,  he  began  to  hesitate  and  falter  in  his 
course.  He  became  oppressed  with  the  feelings  of  a  criminal. 
He  was  ashamed  to  meet  his  family ;  for,  fully  conscious  that , 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  37 

his  looks  must  be  haggard,  his  eyes  red  and  bloodshot,  and 
his  whole  appearance  disordered,  he  knew  his  return  in  such  a 
plight,  at  that  hour  in  the  morning,  would  betray  the  wretched 
employments  of  the  night,  especially  to  his  keen-sighted  brother, 
on  whose  assistance  he  now  doubly  depended  to  save  him  from 
ruin.  He  therefore  changed  his  course,  and  was  proceeding 
towards  his  store,  when  he  met  his  confidential  clerk,  who  was 
out  in  search  of  him,  and  who,  in  great  agitation,  informed  him 
that  His  drafts  of  yesterday  had  all  been  returned  dishonored ; 
that  bills  were  pouring  in,  and  the  holders  clamorous  for  their 
pay.  Struck  dumb  by  the  startling  announcement,  it  was  some 
moments  before  Elwood  could  collect  his  thoughts  sufficiently 
to  bid  his  clerk  return,  and  put  off  his  creditors  till  the  next 
day,  when  he  would  try  to  satisfy  them  all.  And,  having  done 
this,  he  turned  suddenly  into  another  street,  •\vound  his  way 
back  to  the  inn  he  had  just  left,  took  a  private  room,  locked 
himself  in,  and  for  a  while  gave  way  to  alternate  paroxj^sms 
of  grief,  remorse,  and  self-reproaches.  After  exhausting  him- 
self by  the  violence  of  his  emotions,  he  threw  himself  upon  a 
bed,  and,  thinking  an  hour's  repose  might  mend  his  appearance, 
so  as  to  enable  him  the  better  to  disguise  the  cause  of  his  ab- 
sence, on  his  return  to  his  family,  which  he  now  concluded  to 
defer  till  towards  dinner-time,  he  fell  into  a  slumber  so  pro- 
found and  absorbing,  that  he  did  not  awake  till  the  shadows  of 
approaching  night  had  begun  to  darken  his  room. 

Leaping  from  his  couch,  in  his  surprise  and  vexation  at  hav- 
ing so  overslept  himself,  he  hastily  made  his  toilet,  and  imme- 
ately  set  out  for  home,  —  a  home  which,  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  he  now  dreaded  to  enter.  To  that  wretched  home  we  will 
now  repair,  preceding  his  arrival,  to  relate  what  had  there  oc- 
curred in  his  absence. 

4 


CHAPTER    IV. 

"  Better  is  a  poor  and  wise  child  than  an  old  and  foolish  father,  who 
will  no  more  be  admonished."  —  Eccl. 

After  the  breaking  up  of  the  party,  as  described  in  the 
former  chapter,  Arthur  Elwood,  on  joining  the  family  circle, 
and  not  meeting  his  host  and  brother  there,  as  he  naturally 
expected,  expressed  his  surprise  at  the  circumstance,  and  in- 
quired the  cause  of  his  absence.  But,  perceiving  that  the  sub- 
ject gave  pain  to  Mrs.  Elwood,  who  deemed  it  prudent  but  to 
repeat,  as  she  hesitatingly  did,  what  her  husband  had  told  her, 
that  he  had  gone  out,  soon  to  be  back,  the  former  forbore  any 
further  inquiries  or  comments,  and  soon  retired  to  rest,  wishing 
her  a  good-night  and  pleasant  slumbers. 

"  Good-night  and  pleasant  slumbers ! "  slowly  and  murmur- 
ingly  repeated  the  anxious  and  troubled  wife,  on  whose  ear  the 
words,  kindly  meant  as  she  knew  them  to  be,  fell  as  if  in 
mockery  to  her  feelings.     "  Pleasant  slumbers  for  me !  Heaven 

grant  they  may  be  made  so  by  his  speedy  coming ;  but " 

and,  being  now  alone,  and  thus  relieved  of  the  restraining  pres- 
ence of  others,  she  burst  into  tears,  and  w^ept  long  and  bitterly. 

"Woman  Avas  not  created  to  act  independently.  The  sphere 
in  which  she  is  formed  lo  move,  though  different,  is  yet  so  im- 
mediately connected  with  that  of  man,  that  her  destiny  is 
inseparable  from  his.  Her  happiness  and  prosperity  are  not 
in  her  own  keeping.  The  welfare  of  the  husband  is  the  welfare 
of  the  wife ;  and,  if  poverty  and  disgi'ace,  the  concomitants  of 
vice,  fall  on  him,  she  must  participate  equally  in  the  physical 
evil,  and  drink  as  much  deeper  of  the  cup  of  moral  misery  as 
her  unblunted  sensibilities  are  more  lively,  and  her  sense  of 

(38) 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  39 

right  and  wrong  are  more  acute,  than  those  of  him  who  has 
become  dead  to  the  one  and  lost  to  the  other.  What  wonder, 
then,  that  she  should  so  agonize  and  weep  in  secret  over  his 
moral  deviations,  and  all  the  more  bitterly,  because,  with  the 
most  intense  desire  to  do  so,  she  has  no  power  to  remedy  the 
evil  ?  But,  for  that  sorrow  and  suffering,  who  before  high 
Heaven  will  be  held  responsible  ?  Who,  but  the  doubly-guilty 
husband  whose  conduct  has  caused  them  ? 

Through  the  whole  of  that,  to  her,  long  and  dreary  night, 
Mrs.  Elwood  never  once  thought  of  retiring  to  rest,  but  kept  up 
her  vigils  in  waiting  and  watching  for  her  husband :  now  listen- 
ing pensively  to  the  wind  that  seemed  to  moan  round  her  sol- 
itary apartment  in  unison  with  her  own  feelings  ;  now  straining 
her  senses  to  catch  some  sound  of  his  approach ;  and  now,  per- 
haps, throwing  herself  upon  a  sofa,  and  falling,  for  a  moment, 
into  a  troubled  slumber,  but  only  to  start  up  at^e  first  sound 
of  the  rattling  windows,  to  listen  again,  and  agtlin  to  be  disap- 
pointed. In  this  manner  she  wore  away  the  lingering  hours 
of  the  night,  till  the  long  prayed-for  daylight,  which  she  sup- 
posed, at  the  farthest,  would  bring  back  her  truant  husband, 
made  its  welcome  appearance.  But  daylight  came  not  this  time 
to  remove  the  cause  of  her  anxieties.  Elwood  had  several 
times  before  staid  out  nearly  through  the  night,  but  the  ap- 
proach of  daylight  had  always,  till  now,  brought  him  home ; 
and,  not  making  his  appearance,  as  she  confidently  expected, 
she  became,  as  the  morning  advanced,  really  alarmed  for  his 
personal  safety,  and  would  have  immediately  sent  out  for  him, 
but  she  knew  not  whom  to  send.  She  therefore  concluded  to 
put  off  the  already  long-delayed  breakfast  no  longer ;  and,  sum- 
moning her  brother-in-law,  who,  with  herself  (her  son,  whom 
we  have  yet  more  particularly  to  introduce  to  the  reader,  being 
temporarily  absent  from  town),  now  constituted  all  the  family 
remaining  to  join  in  the  repast.  The  two  then  sat  down  to  the 
table,  and  partook  the  meal  mostly  in  gloomy  silence,  one  still 
hoping  all  might  yet  turn  out  well,  and  therefore  repressing  her 


40 

twofold  apprehensions ;  and  the  otlier,  out  of  regard  to  her  feel- 
ings, kindly  forbearing  to  pain  her  with  remarks  and  inquiries 
on  a  subject  which  they  mutually  felt  conscious  was  oppressing 
the  hearts  of  both. 

After  the  meal  was  over,  Arthur  Elwood  arose,  and,  briefly 
announcing  his  intention  of  going  out  to  look  up  his  brother, 
wdio,  he  said,  would  be  likely  soon  to  be  found  at  his  store,  left 
the  house.  At  the  usual  dinner  hour,  Arthur  Elwood  returned 
to  the  house,  and  was  met  at  the  door  by  his  anxious  hostess, 
whose  countenance  quickly  fell  as  she  perceived  him  to  be 
alone. 

"  Have  you  not^  yet  seen  my  husband  ? "  she  eagerly  de- 
manded. 

"  No,  but  have  heard  of  him.  He  is  somewhere  in  the  city, 
I  believe,"  replied  the  other. 

"  In  the  city  and  not  return  ?  "  persisted  the  surprised  and 
distressed  wife.     "  How  can  this  be?  —  what  does  it  mean?" 

"  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Arthur,  with  a  thoughtful  and  per- 
plexed air. 

INIrs.  Elwood  for  a  moment  stood  mute  as  a  statue  ;  for,  but 
too  well  conjecturing  what  was  passing  in  the  mind  of  the  other, 
she  durst  not  ask  his  opinion.  But,  soon  regaining  her  usual 
composure,  she  led  the  way  to  the  dinner-table,  where  the  meal 
that  followed  was  partaken  much  as  the  one  that  preceded  it, 
—  in  silence  and  mutual  constraint,  which  was  only  relieved  by 
an  occasional  forced,  commonplace  remark. 

"  I  shall  again  go  to  Mark's  store,"  said  Arthur,  with  stern 
gravity,  as  he  rose  from  the  table,  after  he  had  finished  his 
repast,  "  and  I  shall  also  take  the  liberty  of  looking  into  the 
condition  of  his  affairs.  After  that,  I  may  return  here  again, 
though  to  remain  only  for  a  short  time,  as  I  leave  for  home  in 
the  evening." 

Towards  night  Arthur  Elwood  returned,  and  in  his  usual 
quiet  way  entered  the  room  where  Mrs.  Elwood  was  sitting ; 
when,  shaking  his  head  as  if  in  reply  to  the  question  respecting 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  41 

her  still  absent  husband,  which  he  saw,  by  the  painfully  inquu'- 
ing  expression  of  her  countenance,  was  rising  to  her  lips,  he 
took  a  seat  by  her  side,  and,  with  an  air  of  concern  and  a  shght 
tremor  of  voice,  commenced : 

"  I  have  been  debating  with  myself,  sister  Alice,  whether  it 
were  a  greater  kindness  to  go  away  without  seeing  you,  and  of 
course  without  apprising  you  of  what  I  may  have  discovered 
respecting  your  husband  and  his  affairs,  or  come  here  and  tell 
you  truths  which  would  be  painful,  —  too  painful,  perhaps,  for 
you  to  bear." 

"  'Tis  better  I  should  know  all,"  rather  gasped  than  uttered 
IVIrs.  Elwood.  *'  Ton  will  tell  me  the  truth,  —  others  may  not. 
Go  on." 

"  Your  husband,"  resumed  the  other,  "wrote  me  for  the  help 
of  a  few  thousands,  which  I  would  have  freely  loaned,  but  for 
my  suspicions  that  all  was  not  right  with  him ;  and,  as  I  plainly 
told  him,  I  came  on  to  ascertain  for  myself  whether  such  help 
would  be  thrown  away,  or  really  relieve  him,  as  he  represented, 
from  a  mere  temporary  embarrassment.  I  have  now  been  into 
the  painful  investigation,  and  find  matters,  I  grieve  to  say,  ten- 
fold worse  than  I  suspected.  He  is,  and  must  have  been  for  a 
long  time,  the  companion  and  the  victim  of  blacklegs  and  cut- 
throats, and " 

"  I  suspected,  —  I  knew  it,"  interrupted  the  eager  and  trem- 
bling listener ;  "  and  O  Arthur,  how  I  have  tried  and  wept  and 
prayed  to  indudfe  him  to  break  off  from  them  ;  for  I  felt  they 
would  eventually  ruin  him." 

"  Eventually  ruin  him  !  Why,  Alice,  with  his  own  miscalcu- 
lations in  business,  folly  and  extravagance  in  every  thing,  they 
have  done  so  already." 

"  But  the  main  part  of  his  property,"  demanded  the  other, 
with  a  startled  look,  "  you  don't  mean  but  what  the  main  part' 
of  his  "property  is  still  left  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do,  AHce,  —  but  I  see  you  are  not  prepared  for  this, 
4* 


42 

Still,  jou  may  as  well  know  it  now  as  ever.  Yes,  Alice, 
your  husband  is  irretrievably  bankrupt ! " 

Mrs.  Elwood  was  not  indeed  prepared  for  this  development. 
She  had  foreseen,  it  was  true,  the  coming  evil ;  but  she  sup- 
posed it  was  yet  in  the  distance.  She  knew  her  husband's 
property  had  been  a  large  one  ;  and  the  announcement,  from 
one  she  could  not  disbelieve,  that  it  was  all  gone,  struck  her 
dumb  with  surprise  and  consternation.  She  uttered  not  a  word. 
She  could  not  speak,  but  sat  pale  and  trembling,  the  very  pic- 
ture of  distress. 

After  pacing  the  room  a  few  moments,  with  frequent  com- 
miserating glances  at  the  face  of  the  other,  whose  distress 
evidently  deeply  moved  him,  Arthur  Elwood  stopped  short 
before  her  and  said  : 

"  Sister  Alice,  my  time  is  about  up,  —  I  must  go." 

"Have  you  no  word  to  leave  for  my  husband  -when  he 
comes  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Elwood,  with  an  effort  to  appear  composed. 

"  No,  —  none  whatever  to  him  ;  but  with  you,  Alice,"  he 
added,  drawing  out  a  small  package  of  bank  notes  and  dropping 
them  into  her  lap,  "  with  you,  and  for  you  alone,  against  a  day 
of  necessity,  I  leave  that  trifle — no  hesitation  —  keep  it  —  put 
it  out  of  sight  —  there,  that  is  right.  Now  only  one  thing  more, 
—  what  of  your  son  ?  " 

"  Claud .?" 

"Yes.  You  know  it  has  happened  that  I  have  never  seen 
him." 

"  I  do  know  it,  and  have  much  regretted  his  absence  ;  for  I 
wished  you  to  see  him.  But  I  am  now  looking  for  him  every 
hour,  and  if  you  could  dellay " 

"  No,  no,  I  must  go.  Tell  him  to  forget,  at  once,  that  he  was 
ever  a  rich  man's  only  son  and  heir,  and  learn  to  profit  by  a 
rich  man's  errors ;  for,  till  he  does  this,  which,  if  he  is  like 
others,  will  require  some  time,  he  will  make  no  real  advance  in 
life." 


THE   TEAPPEES   OF  UMBAGOG.  43 

"  Your  impression  may  be  natural,  but  it  hardly  does  liim 
justice.     He  is  not  like  most  others.     Claud  is  a  man  now." 

"  So  much  the  better,  then,  for  you  and  himself.  But  you  see 
with  a  mother's  eyes,  probably,  and  speak  with  a  mother's  heart. 
I  will  inquire  about  him,  however,  as  indeed  I  will  about  you 
all.     Good-by." 

Thus  did  the  unimpassioned  Arthur  Elwood,  with  a  seeming 
business-like  roughness  and  want  of  feeling,  assume  to  hide 
the  emotions  which  he  really  felt  in  the  discovery  of  his 
brother's  ruin,  and  in  witnessing  the  distress  he  had  just  caused 
in  communicating  it,  hurry  through  the  painful  interview,  and 
abruptly  depart,  leaving  Mrs.  Elwood  to  struggle  in  secret  with 
the  chaos  of  thoughts  and  emotions  which  Arthur's  unexpected 
revelation  had  brought  over  her.  She  was  not  left  long,  how- 
ever, to  struggle  with  her  feelings  alone.  In  a  short  time  the 
sound  of  a  familiar  footstep  hastily  entering  the  front  hall  of 
the  magnificent  mansion, — alas!  now  no  longer  her  own,  —  sud- 
denly caught  her  ear ;  when,  with  the  exclamation,  "  Claud,  O 
Claud ! "  she  rushed  forward  to  her  advancing  son,  and,  to  use 
the  expressive  language  of  Scripture,  "  fell  on  his  neck  and 
wept." 

"I  heard  of  father's  failure,"  said  the  son,  a  fine  looking 
youth  of  about  twenty,  with  his  mother's  cleanly  cut  features 
and  firm,  thoughtful  countenance,  joined,  to  liis  father's  manly 
proportions.  "  I  learned,  as  I  came  into  the  city,  an  hour  ago, 
that  father  had  just  failed,  his  store  been  shut  up,  and  all  his 
property  put  into  the  hands  of  his  creditors ;  and  I  hurried 
home  to  break  the  news  to  you.     But  I  see  you  know  it  all." 

"  Yes,  that  the  blow  was  impending,  but  not  that  it  had  already 
fallen,  as  you  now  report ;  but  it  may  as  well  come  to-day  as 
to-morrow  or  next  week.  Half  my  nights,  for  months,  Claud, 
have  been  made  sleepless  by  the  bodings  and  fears  of  the  evil 
day,  which,  as  things  were  going,  I  felt  must  eventually  come ; 
but  never,  till  within  this  very  hour,  did  I  dream  that  our  mis- 
fortunes were  so  near.     But,  though  the  storm  has  bui'st  so 


44  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

mucli  sooner  than  I  expected,  I  could  bravely  face  it,  could  we 
say  that  it  was  caused  by  no  fault  of  our  own ;  but  to  be  brought 
upon  us  in  this  manner,  my  son,  it  is  hard,  hard  to  bear." 

"  But  you  have  not  been  to  blame,  mother ;  and  I  did  not 
suppose  you  thought  enough  of  wealth  to  grieve  so  at  its  loss." 

"  I  do  not,  Claud.  It  is  not  that ;  still,  I  could  not  help 
thinking  of  your  disappointment,  even  in  that  view  of  the  mis- 
fortune." 

"  Mine,  mother  ?  Wliy,  I  am  no  worse  off  than  father  was 
when  he  started  in  life ;  no  worse  off  than  thousands  who 
begin  with  no  other  resources  than  what  lie  in  clear  heads  and 
strong  hearts.  I  can  take  care  of  myself;  and,  what  is  more,  I 
can  take  care  of  you,  dear  mother.  Surely,  you  won't  doubt 
me?" 

"  No,  Claud,  no.  You  have  always  been  my  pride,  latterly 
almost  my  only  hope ;  and  I  know  not  now  but  that  you  must 
be  my  only  staff,  on  which  to  lean  as  I  pass  down  the  decline 
of  life." 

"  And  I  will  be  one  to  you,  mother ;  but  come,  cheer  up,  and 
let  us  go  in  and  talk  over  these  matters  more  calmly." 

The  mother  and  son  accordingly  retired  to  her  usual  sitting- 
room  ;  where,  since  her  overcharged  bosom  had  found  relief  in 
tears,  and  her  sinking  spirits  had  been  raised  by  the  kind  and 
comforting  words  of  her  dutiful  son,  she  told  him  all  that  had 
occurred  duruig  the  two  preceding  days,  which  constituted  the 
brief  but  eventful  period  of  his  absence.  They  then  were  be- 
ginning to  counsel  together  on  the  prospects  and  probabiHties 
of  their  gloomy  future ;  but  their  conversation  was  suddenly 
cut  short  by  the  abrupt  entrance  of  the  wretched  husband  and 
father,  who,  on  his  way  from  the  hotel  where  he  had  spent  the 
day  in  sleeping  off  his  debauch  in  concealment,  having  received 
an  intimation  of  what  was  going  on  among  his  creditors,  had 
hurried  home,  with  a  confidence  and  self-possession  which  he 
could  not  summon  when  he  started  ;  for,  out  of  this  movement 
among  his  creditors,  which  he  still  would  not  believe  was  any 


THE   TRAPPEES   OF  UMBAGOG.  45 

tiling  more  than  a  sort  of  practical  menace  to  enforce  payment, 
lie  saw  not  only  how  he  could  frame  a  plausible  excuse  for  his 
guilty  absence,  but  make  the  circumstance  an  irresistible  plea  for 
forcing  from  his  brother  a  loan  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  arrest 
his  failure  and  continue  business.  On  entering  the  room,  there- 
fore, after  saluting  his  wife  and  son  in  a  sort  of  brisk,  unconcerned 
manner,  and  muttering  that  he  "  thought  they  would  never  let 
him  get  home  again,"  he  eagerly  inquired  for  Arthur ;  and,  on 
being  informed  that  his  brother  had  started  for  liis  home,  with- 
out leaving  any  note  or  word  for  him,  and  especially  on  being 
told  by  his  son  —  as  he  at  length  calmly  and  persistingly  was, 
in  despite  of  his  multiplied  prevarications  and  denials,  what 
they  all  knew,  and  what  he  himself  should  have  been  the  last 
to  be  ignorant  of —  that  the  question  of  his  failure,  for  more 
than  he  could  ever  pay,  had  already  been  settled  against  him, 
he  became  frantic  in  the  outpourings  of  his  rage,  disappoint- 
ment, and  chagrin ;  sometimes  declaring  that  the  world,  grovra 
envious  of  his  prosperity,  had  all  suddenly  become  his  enemies, 
and  grossly  belied  him;  sometimes  savagely  charging  his 
brother,  wife,  and  son  with  conspii'ing  together  against  him ; 
and  sometimes  cursing  his  own  blindness  and  folly.  And  thus 
he  continued  to  rave,  and  walk  the  room  for  hours,  till  his  wife 
and  son,  having  partaken  their  evening  meal  before  his  unheed- 
ing eyes,  and  become  sick  and  wearied  in  listening  to  his  insane 
ravings,  —  to  which  they  had  wholly  ceased  making  any  reply, 
—  retired  to  rest,  leaving  him  to  partake  such  food  as  was  left 
on  the  table,  to  occupy,  as  he  chose  to  do,  the  same  sofa  which 
his  hapless  wife  had  done  the  night  before,  to  sleep  down  the 
wild  commo'tion  of»his  feelings,  and  awake  a  calmer  and  more 
humbled,  but  not  yet  a  better  or  much  wiser  man. 

But  we  do  not  propose  to  describe  in  detail  the  rapid  descent 
from  opulence  and  station  to  poverty  and  insignificance,  which 
now  transpired  to  mark  tliis  era  in  the  singular  fortunes  of 
El  wood  and  his  family.  Their  history,  for  the  next  three 
months,  was  but  the  usual  painful  one  which  awaits  the  failed 


46  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

merchant  everywhere  in  the  cities.  The  crushing  sense  of 
misfortune  which,  for  the  first  few  days  after  the  unexpected 
blow  has  fallen,  weighs  down  the  self-deceived  or  otherwise 
unprepared  victims ;  the  ^cceeding  weeks  of  dejection  and 
mortified  pride;  then  the  painful  trial  of  parting  with  the 
showy  equipage,  the  costly  furniture,  and  the  cherished  memen- 
toes, which  had  required,  perhaps,  the  care  of  half  a  life  in 
gathering;  then  the  compulsory  abdication  of  the  great  and 
conspicuous  mansion  for  the  small,  obscure,  hired  cottage ;  then 
the  saddening  bodings  and  deep  concern  felt  in  seeing  the 
means  of  living  daily  diminishing,  with  no  prospect  of  ever 
being  replenished ;  and,  finally,  the  humiliating  resort  of  the 
wife  and  children  to  the  needle  or  menial  employments,  for 
the  actual  necessaries  of  life,  —  these,  all  these,  are  but  the 
usual  graduated  vicissitudes  of  sorrow  and  trial  which  are 
allotted  to  those  whose  folly  and  extravagance  have  suddenly 
thrown  them  on  the  downward  track  of  fortune,  and  which  the 
Elwoods,  in  common  with  others,  were  now  doomed  to  experi- 
ence, and,  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Elwood,  especially,  with  aggra- 
vations not  necessarily  incident  to  such  reverses.  She  would 
have  borne  all  the  deprivations  and  evils  incident  to  her  hus- 
band's failure  without  a  murmur,  could  she  have  seen  in  him 
any  amendment  in  those  habits  and  vicious  inclinations  which 
had  led  to  his  downfall.  But  she  could  not.  The  hopes  she 
had  confidently  entertained,  that  his  misfortunes  would  humble 
and  reform  him,  were  doomed  to  disappointment.  He  still 
madly  clung  to  his  old  associates  of  the  gamblmg-table ;  and 
all  the  money  he  could  get  was  lost  or  squandered  among  them, 
till  he  became  too  poor  and  desperate  even  for  them,  and  they 
drove  him  from  their  society  to  join  another  and  a  lower 
set,  who  in  turn  compelled  him  to  seek  other  still  lower  and 
more  degraded  associations.  And  so  descended,  step  by  step, 
along  the  path  of  degradation,  the  once  princely  merchant,  till, 
despised  and  shunned  by  all  respectable  men,  he  became  the 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  47 

fit  companion  of  the  meanest  thimble-riggers  of  the  cellars, 
and  the  lounging  tipplers  of  the  streets. 

His  case,  however,  as  hopeless  as  it  might  appear,  was  not 
permitted  to  become  an  irretrievable  one.  Through  a  seem- 
ingly accidental  circumstance,  a  light  one  day  broke  on  his  be- 
clouded and  half-maddened  brain,  that  led  to  a  self-redemption 
as  happy  for  himself  and  family  as  it  was  unexpected  by  all. 
A  former  friend,  one  morning,  moved  perhaps  by  his  forlorn 
appearance,  in  passing  him  with  a  light  carriage,  invited  him 
to  ride  a  few  miles  into  the  country ;  where,  being  unexpectedly 
called  off  in  another  direction,  he  left  Elwood  to  return  on  foot 
by  a  nearer  route  across  the  fields  to  his  home.  After  travel- 
ling some  distance,  he  reached  an  elevation  which  overlooked 
the  city,  and,  feeling  a  little  fatigued,  he  sat  down  on  a  mossy 
hillock  to  rest  and  enjoy  the  prospect.  As  he  cast  his  eye  over 
that  busy  haunt  of  men,  with  its  numerous  spires  shooting  up- 
ward, its  long  lines  of  princely  dwellings,  its  encircling  forest 
of  masts,  its  lofty  warehouses,  and  other  evidences  of  wealth 
and  business,  his  own  former  important  participation  in  its 
busy  scenes,  and  his  present  worse  than  insignificant  position 
there,  rose  in  vivid  contrast  in  his  awakening  mind ;  and  the 
thought  of  his  past  but  squandered  wealth  came  up  only  to  add 
poignancy  to  the  sense  of  his  present  poverty  and  humihation, 
which  thus,  and  for  the  first  time,  was  brought  home  to  his 
agitated  bosom.  Suddenly  leaping  from  his  seat,  from  the 
torturing  force  of  the  reflection,  he  exclaimed :  "  Must  I  bear 
this?  Cannot  I  still  be  a  man?  I  will!  yes,  before  Heaven, 
IwiUf"  And,  resuming  his  seat,  his  mind  became  intently 
engaged  in  studying  out  ways  and  means  for  carrying  the  sud- 
den but  stern  resolution  into  effect ;  when,  after  anotTier  hour 
thus  employed,  he  again  jumped  up,  and,  with  the  air  of  one 
who  has  reached  some  unalterable  conclusion,  he  rapidly  made 
his  way  homeward. 

While  the  besotted  Elwood  was  undergoing,  so  unexpectedly, 
even  to  himself,  such  a  moral  transformation  in  the  solitude  of 


48 

the  fields,  an  event  occurred  to  Ms  sorrowful  wife  at  home, 
which  was  equally  unexpected  to  lier\  which,  though  of  a 
wholly  different  character,  produced  an  equally  great  revulsion 
in  her  feelings  as  the  one  happening  to  her  husband,  about 
the  same  hour,  was  to  him,  or  was  producing  in  his  feelings, 
and  which,  by  the  singular  coincidence,  seemed  to  indicate  that 
the  angel  of  mercy  was  at  length  spreading  his  wings  at  the 
same  time  over  both  heads  of  this  unfortunate  family.  She 
had  been  having  one  of  her  most  disconsolate  days,  and  was 
sitting  alone  in  her  little  room,  gloomily  pondering  over  her 
disheartening  trials,  without  being  able  to  see  one  ray  of  light 
in  the  dark  future,  when  she  received  a  call  from  one  of  her 
husband's  chief  creditors ;  who  announced  that  those  creditors, 
at  a  recent  meeting,  having  ascertained  her  meritorious  conduct 
and  needy  situation,  had  voted  her  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
dollars,  which,  confiding  in  her  discretion  for  a  judicious  outlay 
of  the  money,  he  now,  he  said,  had  the  pleasure  of  presenting 
her.  And,  having  placed  the  money  in  her  hands,  and  taken 
the  tear  of  gratitude  —  which,  preventing  the  utterance  of  the 
w^ord-thanks  she  attempted,  had  started  to  her  cheek  at  the  un- 
expected boon  —  as  a  sufficient  acknowledgment,  he  kindly  bade 
her  adieu,  and  departed. 

That  evening  the  husband  and  wife  met  as  they  had  not  for 
months  before :  each  at  first  surprised  at  seeing  the  unclouded 
brow  and  hopeful  countenance  of  the  other,  but  each  soon  in- 
stinctively feeling  that  something  had  occurred'  to  both,  which 
w^as  not  only  of  present  moment,  but  the  harbinger  of  happier 
days  to  come.  "When  confidence  and  hope  are  springing  up  in 
doubtful  or  despairing  bosoms,  the  tongue  is  soon  loosened 
from  the  frosts  of  reserve,  however  closely  they  may  have  be- 
fore imprisoned  it.  Elwood,  with  many  expressions  of  regret 
at  his  past  conduct,  and  of  wonder  at  the  blindness  and  folly 
which  had  permitted  him  so  long  to  persevere  in  it,  told  his 
gratified  companion  all  that  had  that  day  passed  through  his 
mind,  —  his  sudden  sense  of  shame  and  degradation ;  his  bitter 


THE   TRAPPEES   OF  UMBAGOG.  49 

self-reproaches,  and  succeeding  determination  to  reform ;  to 
atone  for  the  past,  as  far  as  he  could,  by  future  good  conduct ; 
to  begin,  in  fine,  the  world  anew,  and,  after  placing  himself 
beyond  the  reach  of  those  temptations  to  which  he  had  so  fatally 
yielded,  devote  the  remamder  of  his  days  to  honest  industry. 
And  she,  anxious  to  encourage  and  strengthen  him,  and  fearing 
his  total  want  of  means  might  defeat  his  good  resolutions,  —  she, 
also,  as  she  believed  it  would  be  true  wisdom  to  do,  informed 
him  of  her  good  fortune,  and  offered  him  a  portion  of  her  unex- 
pected acquisition,  to  enable  him  to  engage  in  such  business  as 
he  should  decide  to  follow.  They  then  discussed,  and  soon 
mutually  agreed  on,  the  expediency  of  leaving  the  city,  where, 
as  they  had  once  there  enjoyed  wealth  and  station,  they  must 
both  ever  be  subjected  to  mortifying  contrasts,  —  both  constantly 
doomed 

*'  To  see  profusion  which  they  must  not  share,"  -* 

and  he  be  exposed  to  temptations  which  he  might  not  always 
have  the  firmness  to  w^ithstand. 

"  But  I  resolved,"  said  Elwood,  after  a  pause,  "  not  only  on 
going  to  the  country,  but  on  to  a  new  lot  of  land  in  the  very 
outskirts  of  civilization.  You,  however,  should  I  succeed  in 
getting  up  comfortable  quarters,  would  not  be  content  to  make 
such  a  place  your  home  ?  " 

"Anywhere,  Mark;  and  the  farther  from  the  dangerous 
influences  of  this  wicked  city,  the  better.  Yes,  to  the  very 
depths  of  the  wilderness,  and  I  will  not  complain." 

"  It  is  settled,  then.  I  was  once,  in  one  of  my  early  excur- 
sions, along  the  borders  of  the  wild  lakes  lying  on  the  north- 
eastern line  of  New  Hampshire,  where  a  living  may  be  obtained 
from  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  alone ;  but  where  more  may  be 
made,  at  particular  seasons,  in  taking  the  valuable  furs  that 
there  abound.  There  I  will  go,  contract  for  a  lot  of  land,  and 
prepare  a  home,  leaving  you,  and  Claud,  if  he  shall  decide  for 
a  woodman's  life,  to  come  on  and  join  me  next  summer." 

5 


50  GAUT   GURLEY. 

"  That  Claud  will  do ;  for  he  often  declares  himself  disgusted 
with  the  trickery  of  trade,  and  to  be  longing  for  the  country- 
life  of  his  boyhood.  But  here  he  comes,  and  can  speak  for 
himself." 

The  son  now  joined  in  the  family  deliberations,  and  learning, 
with  surprise  and  gratification,  what  had  occurred  during  the 
eventful  day,  joyfully  fell  in  with  his  father's  proposition ;  when 
it  was  soon  decided  that  the  latter  should  take  half  the  money 
that  day  given  to  Mrs.  Elwood,  to  lay  out  in  a  lot  of  land  and 
house,  and  immediately  proceed  on  his  journey. 

Whatever  Mark  Elwood  had  once  firmly  decided  on,  he  was 
always  prompt  and  energetic  in  executing.  Before  nine  o'clock 
that  evening,  his  knapsack  of  clothing  was  made  up  for  a  jour- 
ney on  foot,  which,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  wife  and  son, 
he  decided  should  be  his  mode  of  travelling.  He  then  went 
to  bed,  slept  six  hours,  rose,  dressed,  bade  his  family  good-by, 
turned  his  back  on  the  now  loathed  city,  and,  by  sunrise  next 
morning,  was  far  on  his  way  towards  his  designated  home 
among  the  distant  v/ilds  of  the  North. 


CHAPTER    V. 

"  There  is  a  pleasure  in  the  pathless  woods, 
There  is  a  rapture  in  the  lonely  shore, 
There  is  society  where  none  intrudes, — 
I  love  not  man  the  less,  but  nature  more." 

Once  more  in  the  green  wilderness!  "Welcome  the  wild 
scenes  of  our  boyhood,  which,  as  the  checkered  panorama  of 
the  past  is  unrolled  at  our  bidding,  rise  on  the  mental  vision 
in  all  their  original  freshness  and  beauty !  It  was  here  we 
first  essayed  to  study  the  works  of  nature,  and  in  them  trace 
the  Master-hand  that  moulded  and  perfected  them.  It  was 
here  we  learned  to  recognize  the  voice  of  God  in  the  rolling 
thunder,  and  his  messengers  in  the  swift-winged  lightnings ;  tc 
mark  the  forms  of  beauty  and  grandeur  in  every  thing,  from 
the  humble  lichen  of  the  logs  and  rocks,  to  the  high  and  tower- 
ing pine  of  the  plain  and  the  mountain,  —  from  the  low  mur- 
murings  of  the  quiet  rivulet,  to  the  loud  thunderings  of  the 
headlong  cataract, — and  from  the  soft  whisperings  of  the  gentle 
breeze,  to  the  angry  roar  of  the  desolating  tornado;  and, 
finally,  it  was  here  that  our  first  and  most  enduring  lessons  of 
devotion  were  learned,  here  that  our  first  and  truest  concep- 
tions of  the  grand  and  beautiful  were  acquired,  and  here  that 
the  leading  tone  of  our  intellectual  character,  such  as  it  may 
be,  was  generated  and  stamped  on  us  for  life. 

The  second  part  of  our  story,  to  which  the  preceding  chapters 
should  be  taken,  perhaps,  as  merely  introductory,  opens  about 
midsummer,  and  among  that  remarkable  group  of  sylvan  lakes 
—  nearly  a  dozen  in  number  —  which,  commencing  on  the 
wild  borders  of  northerly  New  Hampshire,  and  shooting  off 
in   an   irregular  line  some  fifty  miles  northeasterly  into  the 

(51) 


52  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

dark  and  unbroken  forests  of  Maine,  appear  on  the  map,  in 
their  strangely  shapeless  forms  and  scattered  locations,  as  if 
they  must  have  been  hurled,  by  the  hand  of  some  Borean 
giant,  down  from  the  North  Pole  in  a  volley  of  huge  ice-blocks, 
which  fell  and  melted  where  they  now  lie,  sparkling,  like  rough 
gems,  on  the  shaggy  bosom  of  the  wilderness. 

Near  the  centre  of  an  opening  of  perhaps  a  dozen  acres, 
about  a  mile  from  where  the  sinuous  Androscoggin  debouches 
full  grown,  like  Minerva  from  the  head  of  Jupiter,  from  its 
parent  reservoir,  the  picturesque  Umbagog,  stood  a  newly 
ria;']red  lo2f  house,  of  dimensions  and  finish  wliich  indicated  more 
taste  and  enterprise  than  is  usually  exhibited  in  the  rude  habi- 
tations of  the  first  settlers.  It  was  a  story  and  a  half  high, 
and  the  walls  were  built  of  solid  pine  timber,  originally  roughly 
hewed,  but  recently  dressed  down  with  broad  axe  over  the 
w^hole  outward  and  inner  surfaces  so  smoothly  that,  at  a  little 
distance,  they  presented,  with  their  still  visible  seams,  more  the 
appearance  of  the  wainscoting  of  some  costly  cottage  than 
the  humble  log  cabin.  The  building  had  also  been  newly 
shmgled,  new  doors  supplied,  the  windows  enlarged,  the  yard 
around  leveled  off,  with  other  improvements,  of  a  late  date, 
betokening  considerable  ambition  for  appearance,  and  con- 
siderable outlay  of  means,  for  so  new  a  place,  to  fit  up  a  tidy 
and  comfortable  abode  for  the  occupants.  In  the  surrounding 
field  were  patches  of  growing  maize,  wheat,  potatoes,  and  some 
of  the  common  table  vegetables ;  the  hay  crop  for  the  winter 
sustenance  of  the  only  cow  and  yoke  of  oxen,  the  best  friends 
of  the  new  settler,  having  been  just  cut  and  stored  in  an  ad- 
joining log-building,  as  was  evident  from  the  fresh  look  of  the 
stubble,  and  the  stray  straws  hanging  to  the  slivered  stumps  or 
bushes  in  the  field,  and  from  the  fragrant  and  far-scenting  locks 
protruding  from  the  upper  and  lower  windows  of  the  well- 
crammed  receptacle  passing  under  the  name  of  barn.  Beyond 
this  little  opening,  and  bounding  it  on  every  side,  stood  the  en- 
circling wall  of  woods,  through  and  over  which  gleamed  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  53 

bright  waters  of  the  far-spreading  Umbagog  on  the  north; 
while  all  around,  towering  up  in  their  green  glories,  rose,  one 
above  another,  the  amphitheatric  hills,  till  their  lessening  in- 
dividual forms  were  lost,  or  mingled  in  the  vision  with  the 
lofty  summits  of  the  distant  White  Mountains  in  the  south  and 
west,  and  of  the  bold  detached  eminences  which  shot  up  from 
the  dark  wildemess  and  studded  the  horizon  in  all  other  direc- 
tions. 

Such,  and  in  such  a  locality,  was,  as  the  reader  probably  has 
already  inferred,  the  residence  which  Mark  Elwood  had  pitched 
upon  for  beginning  life  anew.  On  leaving  the  city,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  last  chapter,  he  had,  under  the  goading  remem- 
brance of  follies  left  behind,  and  the  incitements  of  hope-con- 
structed prospects  before,  perseveringly  pushed  on,  till  he 
reached  this  lone  and  wild  terminus  of  civilized  life ;  when, 
finding,  a  mile  beyond  the  last  of  the  scattered  settlements  of 
the  vicinity,  a  place  on  which  an  opening  had  been  made  and 
the  walls  and  roof  of  a  spacious  log  house  erected,  the  year 
before,  he  had  succeeded  in  purchasing  it,  for  ready  money,  at 
a  price  which  was  much  below  its  value,  and  which  left  him 
nearly  half  his  little  fund  to  be  expended  in  more  thoroughly 
clearing  the  land,  getting  in  crops,  making  the  house  habitable, 
and  felling  an  additional  tract  of  forest.  And  with  so  much 
energy  and  resolution  had  he  pursued  his  object  of  seeing  him- 
self and  family  once  more  united  at  a  comfortable  home,  that, 
within  three  months  from  the  time  he  commenced  operations, 
which  was  in  the  first  of  the  spring  months,  he  had  accom- 
plished it  all ;  for  his  wife  and  son,  rejoicing  in  the  knowledge 
of  his  success  which  he  had  communicated  to  them,  and 
promptly  responding  to  his  invitation  to  join  him,  had  come  on, 
with  their  little  all  of  goods  and  money,  in  teams  hired  for  the 
purpose ;  and  they  were  now  all  together  fully  installed  in  their 
new  home,  pleased  with  the  novelty  and  freshness  of  every 
thing  around  them,  proud  and  secure  in  their  conscious  inde- 
pendence and  exemption  from  the  dangers  and  trials  they  had 
5* 


64  GAUT  gueley;    or, 

recently  passed  through,  and   contented  and    happy  in  their 
situation. 

The  particular  time  we  have  taken  for  the  reappearance  of 
the  family  on  this,  their  new  stage  of  action,  was  a  warm  but 
breezy  afternoon  on  one  of  the  last  days  of  July.  Elwood 
was  engaged  in  his  new-mown  field,  in  cutting  and  grubbing  up 
the  bushes  and  sprouts  which  had  sprung  up  during  the  season 
around  the  log-heaps  and  stumps,  and  could  not  easily  or  con- 
veniently be  cut  by  the  common  scythe  while  mowing  the 
grass.  lie  was  no  longer  robed  in  the  broadcloth  and  fine 
linen,  in  which,  as  the  rich  merchant,  he  might  have  been 
seen,  perhaps,  one  year  ago  that  day,  sauntering  about  "on 
'chanfj-e  "  anion";  the  solid  men  of  Boston.  These  had  been 
mostly  worn  out  or  sold  during  the  changing  fortunes  of  the 
year,  and  their  place  was  now  wisely  supplied  by  the  long  tow- 
frock  and  the  other  coarse  garments  in  common  use  among  the 
settlers.  Nor  had  his  physical  appearance  undergone  a  much 
less  change.  Instead  of  the  pallid  brow,  leaden  eye,  fleshly 
look,  and  the  red  cheek  of  the  wine-bibber  and  luxurist  of  the 
cities,  he  exhibited  the  embrowned,  thin,  but  firm  and  healthy 
face,  and  the  clear  and  cheerful  complexion  of  the  contented 
laborer  of  the  country,  —  tell-tale  looks  both,  which  we  always 
encounter  with  as  much  secret  disgust  in  the  former  as  we  do 
with  involuntary  respect  in  the  latter.  He  now  paused  in  liis 
labors,  and  stood  for  some  time  looking  about  the  horizon,  as  if 
watching  the  signs  of  the  weather ;  now  noting  the  progress  of 
the  haze  gathering  in  the  south,  and  now  turning  his  cheek 
first  one  way  and  then  another,  apparently  to  ascertain  the 
doubtful  direction  of  the  wind,  which,  from  a  lively  western 
breeze,  had  within  the  last  hour  lulled  down  into  those  small, 
fluctuating  puffs  usually  observable  when  counter-currents  are 
springing  up,  balancing,  and  beginning  to  strive  for  the  mastery. 
After  a  while  he  moved  slowly  towards  the  house,  continuing 
his  observations  as  he  went,  till  he  came  near  the  open  window 
at  which  Mrs.  Elwood  was  sitting  at  her  needle-work,  from 


THE  TRAPPERS   OP  UMBAGOG.  55 

wliicli  slie  occasionally  lifted  her  eyes,  and  glanced  somewhat 
anxiously  along  the  path  leading  down  through  the  woods  to  a 
landing-place  on  the  lake ;  when,  looking  round  and  observing 
her  husband  standing  near,  giving  token  of  being  about  to  speak, 
she  interposed  and  said  : 

"  You  have  seen  nothing  of  Claud,  I  suppose  ?  Wliat  can 
be  the  reason  why  he  does  not  return?  He  was  to  have  been 
at  home  long  before  this,  was  he  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  carelessly  replied  Elwood,  "  unless  he  concluded  to 
take  a  bout  in  the  woods.  He  took  his  fowling-piece  with  him, 
to  use  in  case  the  trout  wouldn't  bite,  you  know.  Phillips,  the 
old  hunter,  came  into  the  field  where  we  were  last  night,  and 
said  he  was  out  of  meat,  and  must  skirt  the  lake  to-day  for  a 
buck.  I  presume  Claud  may  have  joined  him.  There!  hark! 
that  sounded  like  Claud's  piece,"  he  added,  as  the  distant  report 
of  a  gun  rose  from  the  woods  westward  of  the  lake  and  died 
away  in  swelling  echoes  on  the  opposite  shore.  "  And  there, 
again ! "  he  continued,  as  another  and  sharper  report  burst,  the 
next  moment,  from  the  same  locality,  —  "  there  goes  another, 
but  not  his,  as  he  could  not  have  loaded  so  quick.  That  must 
have  been  Phillips'  long  rifle.  They  are  doubtless  together 
somewhere  near  the  Magalloway,  —  some  three  miles  distant,  I 
should  judge,  —  and  are  probably  having  fine  sport  w^ith  some- 
thing." 

"  That  may  be  the  case,  perhaps,"  responded  Mrs.  Elwood. 
"  I  wish,  however,  he  would  come  ;  for  I  cannot  yet  quite  divest 
myself  of  the  idea  that  there  may  be  danger  in  these  wild  scenes 
of  the  lakes  and  the  woods.  But  what  was  you  about  to  say 
when  I  first  spoke?  You  were  going  to  say  something,  I 
thought." 

"  O  —  yes  —  why,  I  was  about  to  say  that  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  to  set  fire  to  the  slash.  It  is  dry  enough  now  to  get  a 
good  burn ;  and  it  looks  to  me  a  good  deal  hke  rain.  I  wish 
to  get  the  land  cleared  and  ready  to  sow  with  winter  wheat  by 


56  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

the  first  of  September ;  and  I  don't  like  to  risk  the  chance  of 
finding  every  thing  in  so  good  order  again." 

"  There  is  no  danger  that  the  fire  will  spread,  or  be  blown 
to  the  buildings,  is  there  ?  " 

"  No,  the  wind  is  springing  up  in  the  south  now,  and  will 
drive  the  fire  only  towards  the  lake  in  the  direction  of  the 
landing." 

"  But  Claud  may  be  there." 

"  Well,  if  he  should  be,  the  fire  won't  burn  up  the  lake,  I 
think ;  and,  if  it  besets  the  path  in  the  woods,  he  can  come  round 
some  other  way,"  jocosely  said  Elwood,  moving  away  to  carry 
his  purpose  into  execution. 

Having  procured  a  parcel  of  Splinters  split  from  the  dry  and 
resinous  roots  of  some  old  pine  stub,  —  that  never-failing  and 
by  no  means  contemptible  substitute  for  lamp  or  candle  among 
the  pioneers  of  a  pine-growing  country, —  he  proceeded  rapidly 
to  the  edge  of  the  slash,  as  a  tract  of  felled  forest  is  generally 
denominated  by  the  first  settlers,  especially  of  the  northern 
States.  Here,  pausing  a  moment  to  mark  with  his  eye  the 
most  favorable  places  to  communicate  the  fire,  he  picked  his 
way  along  the  southern  end  to  the  farthest  side  of  the  tangled 
mass  of  trees  of  every  description  composing  the  slash,  which 
was  a  piece  of  some  four  or  five  acres,  lying  on  the  western 
border  and  extending  north  and  south  the  whole  length  of  the 
opening.  And,  having  reached  his  destination,  and  kindled  all 
his  splinters  into  a  blaze,  he  threw  one  of  them  into  the  thickest 
nest  of  pine  or  other  evergreen  boughs  at  hand,  and  darted  back 
to  his  next  marked  station,  where  he  threw  in  another  of  his 
blazing  torches,  and  so  on  till  he  reached  the  cleared  ground, 
which  was  not  one  moment  too  soon  for  his  safety.  For  so 
dry  and  inflammable  had  every  thing  there  become,  under  the 
scorching  sun  of  the  preceding  fortnight,  which  had  been  re- 
lieved by  neither  rain  nor  cloud,  that,  the  instant  the  fire  touched 
the  tinder-like  leaves,  it  flashed  up  as  from  a  parcel  of  scattered 
gunpowder ;  and,  bursting  with  almost  explosive  quickness  all 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  57 

around,  and  swiftly  leaping  from  boiigli  to  bough  and  treetop 
to  treetop,  it  spread  with  such  astonishing  celerity  that  he 
found  it  hard  on  his  heels,  or  whirling  in  a  hot  cloud  over  his 
head,  at  every  pause  he  made  to  throw  in  a  new  but  now  un- 
necessary torch,  in  his  rapid  and  constantly  quickened  run 
through  the  slash.  And  when,  after  running  some  distance 
into  the  open  field,  to  escape  the  stifling  smoke  lyid  heat  by 
which  he  was  even  there  assailed,  he  turned  round  to  note 
more  fully  the  surprising  progress  that  the  terribly  element  he 
had  thus  let  loose  was  making,  he  beheld  all  that  part  of  the 
slash  which  he  had  a  moment  before  passed  through  already 
enveloped,  from  side  to  side,  in  a  continuous  blaze,  whose  red, 
curling  crest,  mounting  every  instant  higher  and  higher,  was 
advancing  with  the  seeming  speed  of  a  race-horse  on  its  fiery 
destination.  Half-appalled  by  the  sight  of  such  a  sudden  and 
unexpected  outburst  of  the  fire  he  had  kindled,  Elwood  hurried 
on  to  his  house,  and  joined  his  startled  wife  in  the  yard ;  when 
the  two  took  station  on  an  adjoining  knoll,  and  looked  down 
upon  the  conflagration  in  progress  with  increasing  wonder  and 
uneasiness,  —  so  comparatively  new  was  the  scene  to  them 
both,  and  so  far  did  it  promise  to  exceed  all  their  previous  con- 
ceptions, in  magnitude  and  grandeur,  of  any  thing  of  the  kind 
to  be  met  with  in  the  new  settlements.  And  it  was,  indeed,  a 
grand  and  feaiful  spectacle:  For,  with  constantly  increasing 
fury,  and  with  the  rapidity  of  the  wind  before  which  it  was 
driving,  still  raged  and  rolled  on  the  red  tempest  of  fire.  Now 
surging  aloft,  and  streaking  with  its  winding  jets  of  flame  the 
fiercely  whirling  clouds  of  smoke  that  marked  its  advance,  and 
now  dying  away  in  hoarse  murmurs,  as  if  to  gather  strength 
for  the  new  and  more  furious  outburst  that  the  next  moment 
followed,  it  kept  on  its  terrific  march  till  it  reached  the  central 
elevation,  which  embraced  the  most  tangled,  densely  covered, 
and  combustible  part  of  the  slash,  and  on  which  had  been  left 
standing  an  enormous  dry  pine,  that  towered  so  up  high  above 


&8  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

the  surrounding  forest  as  to  have  long  served  as  a  landmark  for 
the  hunters  and  fishermen,  m  setting  their  courses  through  the 
woods  or  over  the  lake.  Here  the  fiery  billow,  as  if  governed 
by  the  human  tactics  of  a  military  assault,  paused,  parted,  and 
swept  by  on  either  side,  till  it  had  inclosed  the  elevation ; 
when  suddenly  it  shot  up  from  every  side  in  an  hundred  con- 
verging tongues  of  flame,  which,  soon  meeting  and  expanding 
into  one,  quickly  enveloped  the  whole  hill  in  one  broad,  un- 
broken robe^of  sheeted  fire,  encompassed  and  mounted  the 
veteran  pine,  and  around  its  colossal  trunk  formed  a  huge, 
whirling  pyramid  of  mingling  smoke  and  flame  that  rose  to  the 
mid-heavens,  shedding,  in  place  of  the  darkened  sun,  a  lurid 
glare  over  the  forest,  and  sending  forth  the  stormy  roar  of  a 
belching  volcano.  The  next  moment  a  shower  of  cinders  and 
the  burning  fragments  of  twigs,  bark,  and  boughs  which  had 
been  carried  high  up  by  the  force  of  the  ascending  currents, 
fell  hot  and  hissing  to  the  earth  over  every  part  of  the  adjoining 
fields,  to  and  even  far  beyond  the  spot  where  Elwood  and  his 
wife  were  standing. 

"  Good  Heavens !  '*  exclaimed  Elwood,  aroused  from  the 
mute  amazement  with  which  he  and  his  more  terrified  com- 
panion had  been  beholding  the  scene,  as  soon  as  th^se  indications 
of  danger  were  thus  brought  to  his  very  feet.  "  Good  Heavens  I 
this  is  more  than  I  bargained  for.  See,  —  the  fire  is  catching 
on  the  stumps  all  over  the  field !  " 

"  The  house ! "  half-screamed  Mrs.  Elwood.  "  What  is  that 
rising  from  the  shingles  up  there  near  the  top  of  the  roof?" 

"  Smoke,  as  I  am  alive  !  "  cried  the  other,  in  serious  alarm,  as 
he  glanced  up  to  the  roof,  where  several  slender  threads  of 
smoke  were  beginning  to  steal  along  the  shingles.  "  Run, 
Alice,  run  with  the  pails  for  the  brook,  while  I  throw  up  the 
ladder  against  the  gable.  We  must  be  lively,  or  within  one 
hour  we  shall  be  as  houseless  as  beggars." 

"  O,  where   is   Claud  ?   where    is   Claud  ? "  exclaimed    the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  59 

distressed  wife  and  mother,  as  she  flew  to  the  house  to  do  her 
husband's  bidding. 

Yes,  where  was  Claud  ?  At  the  risk  of  the  charge  of  pur- 
posely tantalizing  the  reader,  we  must  break  off  here,  to  follow 
the  young  man  just  named,  in  the  unexpected  adventures  which 
he  also  had  experienced  during  that  eventful  day.  But  for 
this  we  will  take  a  new  chapter. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

"  To  sit  on  rocks,  to  muse  o'er  flood  and  fell, 
To  slowly  trace  the  forest's  shady  scene, 
Where  things  that  own  not  man's  dominion  d\\'ell, 
And  mortal  foot  hath  ne'er,  or  rarely,  been ; 
To  climb  the  trackless  mountain  all  unseen, 
Witli  the  wild  flock  that  never  needs  a  fold  ; 
Alone  o'er  steeps  and  foaming  falls  to  lean,  — 
This  is  not  Solitude  :  't  is  but  to  hold 
Converse  with  nature's  charms,  and  view  her  stores  unroU'd." 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  on  the  day  marked 
by  the  incidents  narrated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  when  Claud 
Elwood,  who  had  become  pretty  well  initiated  into  the  sports 
of  the  locality,  entered  his  light  canoe,^with  his  fishing-tackle  and . 
fowling-piece,  and  pushed  out  upon  the  broad  bosom  of  the 
forest-girt  Umbagog.  Having  had  the  best  success,  when  up 
on  the  lake  the  last  time,  on  the  western  margin,  he  pulled  away 
in  that  direction,  and,  after  rowing  a  couple  of  miles  up  the 
lake,  he  laid  down  his  oar,  unrolled  his  elm-bark  cable,  and  let 
down  his  stone  anchor,  at  a  station  a  furlong  or  so  from  the 
shore. 

It  was  a  beautiful  spot,  and  a  beautiful  day  to  enjoy  it  in. 
From  the  water's  edge  rose,  deeply  enshrouded  in  their  bright 
green,  flowing,  and  furbelowed  robes  of  thickly  interwoven 
pines,  the  undulating  hills,  back  to  the  summit  level  of  that  long, 
narrow  tongue  of  forest  land,  which,  for  many  miles,  only  sepa- 
rates the  Umbagog  from  the  parallel  Magalloway,  the  noble 
stream  that  here  comes  rushing  down  from  the  British  high- 
lands, to  join  the  scarcely  larger  Androscoggin,  almost  at  the 
very  outset  of  its  "  varied  journey  to  the  deep."     Turning  from 

(60) 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  61 

this  magnliicent  s^vell  on  the  west,  the  eye,  as  it  wandered  to 
the  right  over  the  l>right  expanse  of  intervening  waters,  next 
rested  on  the  long,  crescent-shaped  mountain  ridge,  behind  which 
slept,  in  their  still  deeper  and  wilder  seclusion,  the  broad  Moose- 
eluk-maguntic  and  the  Molechunk-a-munk,  which,  with  the  Um- 
bagog,  make  up  the  three  principal  links  in  this  remarkable  chain 
of  lakes.  Still  farther  to  the  right  lay  the  seemingly  boundless, 
rolling  forests,  forming  the  eastern  and  southern  rim  of  this 
basin  of  the  lakes;  whose  gradually  sloping  sides,  like  some  old 
pinnacled  city,  were  everywhere  bristling  with  the  giant  forms 
of  the  heaven-aspiring  pine,  and  whose  nearer  recesses  were 
pierced,  in  the  midst,  by  the  long,  lessening  line  of  the  gleam- 
ing Umbagog ;  while  around  the  whole  circle  of  the  horizon, 
scattered  here  and  there  far  back  into  the  blue  distance,  rose 
mountain  after  mountain  in  misty  grandeur  to  the  heavens. 

After  thus  slowly  sweeping  the  horizon,  to  note,  for  the 
tenth  time,  perhaps,  the  impressive  character  of  the  scenery, 
whose  everywhere  intermingling  beauty  and  grandeur  he  was 
never  tired  of  contemplating,  Claud  withdrew  his  gaze,  and 
turned  his  attention  to  the  more  immediate  object  of  his  excur- 
sion. After  a  few  moments  spent  in  regulating  his  hook  and 
line,  he  strung  his  angle-rod,  and  thi-ew  out  to  see  whether  he 
could  succeed  in  tempting,  at  that  unfavorable  hour,  the  fickle 
trout  from  their  watery  recesses.  But  all  in  vain  the  attempt. 
Not  a  trout  was  seen  stirring  the  water  at  the  surface,  or  mani- 
festing his  presence  around  the  hook  beneath ;  and  all  the  en- 
deavors which  the  tantalized  angler  made,  by  changing  the  bait, 
and  throwing  the  line  in  different  directions  around  him,  proved, 
for  the  next  hour,  equally  fruitless.  "While  he  was  thus  en- 
gaged, intently  watching  his  line,  each  moment  expecting  that 
the  next  must  bring  him  a  bite,  one  of  those  peculiar,  subdued, 
but  far-reaching  sounds,  which  are  made  by  the  grazing  of  the  oar 
against  the  side  of  the  boat  in  rowing,  occasionally  greeted  his 
ear  from  some  point  to  the  south  of  him ;  though,  for  a  while, 
nothing  was  to  be  seen  to  indicate  by  whom  the  sounds  were 

6 


62  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

produced.  Soon,  however,  a  man  in  a  canoe,  who  had  been 
coasting,  unseen,  along  the  indentures  of  the  shore,  and  whom 
Claud  instantly  recognized  as  Phillips,  the  hunter  already 
named,  shot  round  a  neighboring  point,  and,  in  a  few  minutes 
more,  was  at  his  side. 

"Well,  what  luck?"  cheerily  exclaimed  Phillips,  a  keen, 
hawk-eyed,  self-possessed  looking  man,  with  a  round,  compact, 
and  sinewy  frame.     "  Wliat  luck  to-day,  young  man  ?  " 

"  None  whatever,"  replied  Claud,  with  an  air  of  disappoint- 
ment. 

"  I  suppose  so,  unless  you  beg^n  before  ten  o'clock." 

"  But  why  did  you  suppose  so  ?" 

"  O,  I  knew  it  from  my  knowledge  of  human  nature,"  said 
the  hunter,  humorously.  "Trout  are  very  much  like  other 
folks,  only  a  great  deal  more  sensitive  to  heat.  Now,  you 
don't  see  men,  who  are  well  fixed  under  a  cool  shade  in  a  swel- 
tering hot  day,  very  anxious  to  run  out  bare-headed  in  the  sun, 
when  there  is  no  call  for  it ;  much  less,  then,  the  trout,  that 
can't  bear  the  sun  and  heat  at  all.  Though  there  are,  probably, 
a  ton  of  them  within  a  stone's  throw  of  us,  not  one  will  come 
out  with  this  bright  sun ;  they  are  lying  behind  the  rocks  and 
old  logs  at  the  bottom,  and  won't  begin  to  circulate  these  three 
hours." 

"  And  are  you  not  a-going  to  try  them  ?  " 

"  I  ?  No  ;  I  would  as  soon  think  of  fishing  now  on  the  top 
of  these  hills.  Besides  this,  I  have  a  different  object.  I  am 
bound  to  carry  home  something  that  will  pass  for  fresh  meat, 
if  it  is  nothing  but  a  coon.  I  shall  haul  up  my  canoe  some- 
where about  here ;  follow  up  the  lake-shore  a  mile  or  so,  with 
the  idea  of  catching  a  deer  in  the  edge  of  the  water,  come  there 
to  keep  off  the  flies  ;  then,  perhaps,  cross  over  to  the  Magallo- 
way,  down  that,  and  over  to  this  place ;  when,  by  way  of  top- 
ping off,  I  will  show  you,  by  that  time,  if  you  are  about  here  so 
long,  how  trout  are  taken." 

So  saying,  the  hunter  dipped  his  springy  oar  into  the  water, 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  63 

and,  with  a  few  vigorous  strokes,  sent  his  canoe  to  the  shore, 
and,  having  moored  it  to  a  root,  he  glided  into  the  thickets,  and 
disappeared  with  a  tread  so  noiseless  as  to  leave  Claud,  for 
many  minutes,  wholly  in  doubt  whether  the  man  was  standing 
still  in  the  bushes  or  proceeding  on  his  excursion. 

It  was  now  noon,  and  Claud,  seeing  no  prospect  of  any  imme- 
diate success  in  his  piscatory  employment,  which  had  been 
made  to  appear  to  him,  by  the  remarks  of  the  hunter,  more  dis- 
couraging than  ever,  drew  up  his  anchor,  and  rowed  to  a  point 
of  the  shore  which  was  embowered  by  a  group  of  magnificent 
pines.  Here,  finding  a  cool  spring,  as  well  as  a  refreshing 
shade,  he  di-ew  out  his  lunch,  and  very  leisurely  proceeded  to 
discuss  it,  with  the  ice-cold  water  of  the  spring  by  which  he 
had  seated  himself  for  the  purpose.  His  fare  was  coarse  ;  but  it 
was  partaken  with  a  relish  of  which  those  who  have  never  ex- 
perienced the  effects  of  the  air  and  exercise,  incident  to  a  life 
in  the  woods,  can  have  no  just  conception ;  and  to  which  the 
palled  appetite  of  the 

"  vain  lords  of  luxury  and  ease, 
Whom  slumber  soothes  not,  pleasure  cannot  please," 

is  poor  in  comparison,  though  all  the  king's  banquets  and  me- 
tropolitan feasts  in  the  world  should  vie  together  to  make  good 
the  substitute.  Claud's  life  had  thus  far  been,  in  the  main,  a 
quiet  and  commonplace  one ;  nothing  having  occurred  to  him 
to  arouse  those  strong  and  over-mastering  passions  to  which  it 
is  the  lot  of  most  of  us,  at  some  period  of  our  lives,  to  become 
subjected.  It  had  been  checkered,  however,  by  one  bit  of  ro- 
mance, which,  to  say  the  least,  had  greatly  excited  his  imagina- 
tion. About  a  year  previous  to  the  time  of  which  we  are  now 
writing,  and  one  day  while  he  was  walking  the  streets  of  Bos- 
ton, a  small,  closely-enwrapped  package  was  put  in  his  hand 
by  an  unknown  boy,  who,  with  the  simple  announcement,  "i<^or 
you,  Sir,''  turned  quickly  away,  and  made  off  with  the  air  of 
one  who  has  completed  his  mission,  and  would   avoid  being 


64  GAUT  gurlet;   or, 

questioned.  Glancing  within  the  wrapper,  and  perceiving  it 
inclosed  a  small  encased  picture,  or  likeness,  of  some  female, 
which  he  thought  must  have  been  delivered  to  him  through  mis- 
take, Claud  looked  hastily  round  for  the  messenger,  and,  not  see- 
ing him,  he  walked  backward  and  forward  along  the  street,  and 
lingered  some  time  in  the  vicinity,  still  expecting  the  boy  would 
soon  return  to  claim  the  package.  But,  being  disappointed  in 
ibis,  he  went  home,  and,  retiring  to  his  room,  undid  the  wrap- 
per, which  he  carefully  but  vainly  examined  for  some  name, 
mark,  or  other  clue  to  the  mystery ;  and  then,  with  much  in- 
terest, fell  to  inspecting  the  picture.  It  was,  obviously,  a  well- 
painted  miniature  likeness  of  a  fair,  dark-eyed  girl,  but  Repre- 
senting no  remembered  face,  except  in  the  peculiar  expression 
of  the  strong  and  commanding  countenance ;  which,  he  thought, 
either  in  man  or  woman,  he  must  have  somewhere  before  en- 
countered. The  whole  likeness,  indeed,  together  with  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  came  into  his  hands,  made,  at  the 
time,  a  lively  impression  on  his  mind ;  and,  keeping  the  affair 
wholly  to  himself,  he  often  contemplated  that  fair  face  in  pri- 
vate; and,  for  months  afterwards,  he  never  was  in  a  public  as- 
sembly, where  the  sex  were  present,  without  running  his  eye 
over  it  in  search  of  the  original.  But,  as  he  never  found  it,  the 
impression  gradually  wore  away,  and,  in  the  exciting  changes 
that  had  occurred  in  the  fortunes  of  his  family,  it  had  been 
nearly  obliterated  from  his  mind ;  when,  that  morning,  while 
searcliing  his  trunk  for  some  implement  belonging  to  his  gun, 
he  came  across  the  miriature,  and  put  it  in  his  pocket.  And 
now,  in  the  leisure'  that  followed  his  repast,  he  bethought  him  of 
it ;  and,  laying  it  before  him  on  the  bed  of  moss  on  which  he  was 
reclining,  he  contemplated  it  with  renewed  interest,  and  that  sort 
of  dreamy  enthusiasm  which  the  sudden  revival  of  old  associa- 
tions in  such  solitudes  is  apt  to  awaken  in  the  mind,  especially 
when  those  associations  are  connected,  as  now,  with  a  matter  of 
mystery  and  romance. 

After  indulging  in  his  reveries  a  while,  he  put  up  his  minia- 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  65 

fure,  aroused  himself  from  his  day-dream,  and  rose. to  his  feet 
when,  feeHiig  inchned  for  some  kind  of  action,  he  decided  on  a 
short  excursion  in  the  woods,  in  the  direction  of  the  Magalloway, 
where  probably  he  would  fall  in  with  Phillips,  and  return  with 
him  to  the  lake.  Accordingly,  after  loading  his  gun  with  ball 
and  buckshot,  so  as  to  be  prepared  for  any  large  wild  animals 
he  might  chance  to  encounter,  he  leisurely  took  his  way  through 
the  heavy,  ascending  forest  that  lay  in  his  course  ;  here  pausing 
to  note  the  last  night's  bed  of  some  solitary  bear,  and  there  to 
trace  the  marks  of  the  death-struggle  of  a  victim  deer,  that,  with 
all  its  vigilance  and  wondrous  agility,  had  been  surprised  and 
brought  down  by  the  stealthy  and  fa^-leaping  catamount.  The 
ever-varying  tenants  of  the  forest,  also,  were  constantly  present- 
ing, as  he  passed  on,  some  novelty  to  attract  his  unaccustomed 
eye ;  now  in  the  smooth,  tall  shaft  of  the  fusiform  fir  —  the 
dandy  of  the  forest  —  standing  up  with  its  beautiful  cone-shaped 
top  among  its  rougher  neighbors,  trim  and  straight  as  the  bon- 
netted  cavalier  of  the  old  pictures,  among  the  slouchy  forms  of 
his  homelier  but  worthier  opponents  ;  now  in  the  low  and  stocky 
birch  standing  on  its  broad,  staunch  pedestal  of  strongly-braced 
roots  below,  and  throwing  out  widely  above  its  giant  arms,  as  if 
striving' to  shoulder  and  stay  up  the  weight  of  the  superincum- 
bent forest ;  and  now  in  the  imperial  pine,  proudly  lifting  its 
tall  form  an  hundred  feet  over  the  tops  of  the  plebeian  trees 
around,  to  revel  in  the  upper  currents  of  the  air,  or  bathe  its 
crowning  plumes  of  living  green  in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 

Proceeding  in  this  manner,  he  at  length  found  himself  gradu- 
ally descending  the  western  slope  of  the  hill ;  when  he  soon 
arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  river,  a  glimpse  of  which,  together 
with  a  small  clearing  and  a  tidy-looking  cottage  on  its  banks, 
he  now  caught  through  the  tops  of  the  intervening  trees.  While 
still  walking  on,  his  attention  was  attracted  to  a  comparatively 
open  place  in  the  woods,  where,  at  some  previous  period,  a 
severe  fire  had  killed  all  the  smaller  trees,  and  consumed  the 
underbrush,  which  had  been  replaced  by  scattering  shrubs  of  the 

T5* 


GQ  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

wliite  poplar  Intermingled  with  a  plentiful  growth  of  the  black- 
raspberry,  whose  luscious  fruit  —  the  first  to  reward  the 
pioneer,  and  for  which  he  has  to  contend  sharply  with  the  birds 
and  bears  to  obtain  his  share  —  was  now  beginning  to  ripen. 
As  he  was  entering  this  open  space,  which  appeared  to  extend 
some  distance  round  the  point  of  a  screening  knoll,  he  was  sud- 
denly brought  to  a  stand  by  a  noise  somewhere  in  the  bushes 
or  woods  ahead,  such  as  had  never  before  saluted  his  ears.  It 
was  like  nothing  else,  or  if  any  thing  else,  like  the  wild  snort- 
ing of  a  frightened  horse  prolonged  into  the  dying  note  of  the 
steam  whistle.  Claud  recoiled  a  step  before  the  unaccustomed 
sound,  and  involuntarily  cocked  and  raised  his  gim  to  his 
shoulder.  But  he  was  allowed  no  time  to  speculate.  The 
next  instant,  the  loud  and  piercing  shriek  of  a  female,  nearer 
but  in  the  same  direction,  rose  and  rang  through  the  forest. 
With  a  speed  quickened  at  every  step  by  the  rapidly  repeated 
cry  of  distress,  he  bounded  towards  the  spot,  when,  turning  the 
point  of  the  knoll,  he  suddenly  found  himself  in  full  view  of 
the  object  of  his  solicitude, — a  girl,  in  the  full  bloom  of  youth- 
ful beauty, ^who,  with  bonnet  thrown  back  and  her  loosened 
hair  streaming  in  wild  disorder  over  her  shoulders,  instantly 
rushed  forward  for  his  protection.  Claud  stopped  short,  in 
mute  surprise  at  the  unexpected  apparition ;  for  the  first  glance 
at  her  face  told  him  that  the  original  of  his  mysterious  minia- 
ture was  before  him,  —  before  him,  here  in  the  woods !  Breath- 
less and  speechless  in  her  wild  affright,  she  pointed,  with  a 
glance  over  her  shoulder,  to  a  thick,  high  tangle  of  large, 
strongly  limbed,  knotty,  windfallen  trees,  a  short  distance 
behind  her,  and  fled  past  him  to  the  rear.  Looking  in  the 
indicated  direction,  the  startled  and  perplexed  young  man  dis- 
tinguished the  outlines  of  a  monstrous  moose  madly  plunging 
at  the  woody  barrier,  and  trying  to  force  his  enormous  antlers 
through  the  unyielding  limbs  preparatory  to  leaping  it  in  pur- 
suit of  his  victim,  who  had  eluded  the  infuriated  animal,  and 
barely  escaped  the  fatal  blows  of  his  uplifted  hoofs,  by  creeping 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  67 

under  the  providentially  placed  obstruction.  Claud  instantly 
raised  his  piece,  when,  feeling  uncertain  of  his  aim,  he  withheld 
his  fire,  and  stood  waiting  for  a  fairer  view.  But,  before  he 
could  obtain  it,  the  moose,  tired  of  vain  attempts  to  force 
his  passage  through  the  bristling  barricade  of  logs  and  limbs 
before  him,  disappeared  for  one  moment,  but  the  next  came 
crashing  round  the  nearest  end  of  it,  and,  with  renewed  demon- 
strations of  rage  and  hostility,  made  directly  for  the  new  oppo- 
nent he  beheld  in  his  way.  Still  unalarmed  for  his  own  safety, 
Claud  waited  with  levelled  gun  till  his  formidable  assailant 
was  within  forty  yards  of  him,  when  he  took  a  quick  aim  and 
fired.  Reeling  under  the  discharge  of  his  heavily  loaded 
piece,  and  blinded  by  the  smoke,  he  could  not,  at  first,  see  the 
effect  of  his  fire ;  but  when  he  did  so,  the  next  instant,  it  was 
only  to  behold  the  monster  brute,  maddened,  not  stopped,  by 
the  flesh  wounds  inflicted,  rushing  on  him  with  a  force  and  fury 
which  compelled  him  to  leap  suddenly  aside,  to  avoid  being 
beat  into  the  earth  by  those  terrible  hoofs,  which  he  saw  lifted 
higher  and  higher,  at  each  approaching  step,  for  his  destruction. 
Mindful,  in  his  peril,  of  the  precautions  already  learned  from 
the  hunters,  Claude,  while  the  moose,  whose  tremendous  impetus 
was  driving  him  straight  ahead,  could  break  up,  so  as  to  turn 
in  the  pursuit,  —  Claud  made,  with  all  the  speed  of  which  he 
was  master,  for  a  huge  hemlock,  luckily  standing  at  no  great 
distance  on  his  right ;  a  course  which  he  thought  would  divert 
the  monster  from  pursuit  of  the  maiden,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
best  insure  his  own  safety.  But,  so  prodigious  was  the  rushing 
speed  of  the  foiled  and  now  doubly  exasperated  moose,  that 
the  imperilled  huntsman  had  barely  time  to  reach  the  sheltering 
tree  and  dodge  behind  it,  before  the  hotly  pursuing  foe  was  at 
his  heels,  rasping  and  tearing  with  his  spiked  antlers  the  rough 
bark  of  the  tree,  in  his  attempts  to  follow  round  it  near  and 
fast  enough  to  overtake  and  strike  down  his  intended  victim. 
Round  and  round  then  sped  both  pursuer  and  pursued,  as  fast 
as  the  frantic  rage  of  the  one,  and  the  keen  instinct  of  self- 


68  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

preservation  in  the  other,  could  impel  them.  Although  the 
moose,  from  the  great  width  of  his  interfering  horns,  was  com- 
pelled to  sweep  round  the  tree  in  a  circle  requiring  him  to  go 
over  double  the  distance  travelled  by  Claude,  yet  so  much 
greater  was  his  speed,  that  it  called  for  the  utmost  exertions 
of  the  latter  to  keep  clear  of  the  battle-axe  blows  which  he 
heard  falling  every  instant  with  fatal  force  behind  him.  His 
gun  had  akeady  been  struck,  shivered,  and  beat  from  his  hand ; 
and,  as  he  glanced  over  his  shoulder  and  saw  the  fierce  and 
glaring  eyes  of  his  ruthless  pursuer,  and  his  uplifted  and  for- 
ward-thro-\vn  hoofs  striking  closer  and  closer  to  his  heels  at 
every  bound,  a  sense  of  his  deadly  peril  flashed  over  his  mind 
with  that  strange  and  paralyzing  effect  wliich  the  first  full  con- 
viction of  impending  death  often  produces  on  the  stoutest 
hearts.  He  felt  his  strength  giving  way,  his  brain  beginning 
to  whirl,  and  he  was  on  the  point  of  yielding  himself  to  his 
fate;  when  a  stream  of  smoke  and  flame  accompanied  the 
startling  report  of  a  rifle,  shot  out  from  the  edge  of  a  neighbor- 
ing thicket.  The  moose  gave  a  convulsive  start,  floundered 
forward  on  his  knees,  swayed  backward  and  forward  an  instant, 
then  fell  over  broad-side  into  the  bushes  with  a  heavy  crash, 
straightened  out,  gasped,  and  died. 

"  Dunno  but  you'll  think  I  waited  too  long,  young  man," 
cried  Phillips,  now  advancing  with  a  quick,  leaping  step  from 
his  covert.  "  The  fact  was,  I  felt,  on  seeing  you  getting  into 
such  close  quarters,  that  I  had  better  be  rather  particular 
about  my  aim,  so  as  to  stop  him  at  once ;  besides  that,  I  was  at 
first  a  little  out  of  breath.  I  had  heard  the  fellow  blow  when 
an  hundred  rods  off,  —  then  the  woman  scream,  —  then  your 
gun ;  and,  thinking  like  enough  there  would  be  trouble,  I  legged 
it  for  the  spot,  and  got  to  my  stand  just  as  he  treed  you." 

"  I  feel  very  grateful  to  you,  Mr.  Phillips,  for  this  timely 
rescue,"  responded  Claud,  recovering  his  composure.  "  This,  I 
suppose,  is  the  far-famed  moose  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  a  bouncer  at  that,"  replied  the  hunter,  going  up 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  69 

and,  placing  his  foot  on  the  broad  and  still  quivering  flank  of 
the  huge  animal.  "  Good  twenty  hands  high,  and  weighs, 
well,  not  much  short  of  fifteen  hundred,  I  should  say." 

"  But  are  they  often  thus  dangerous  ?  "  asked  Claud. 

"  Not  very  often,  perhaps,"  rejoined  the  hunter.  "  But  still 
the  bull  moose,  at  this  season  of  the  year,  is  sometimes,  when 
wounded,  about  as  ugly  a  customer  as  you  meet  with  in  the 
woods.  This  fellow  I  judge  to  have  been  oncommon  vicious,  as 
he  begun  his  tantrums  before  he  was  touched  at  all,  it  seems. 
I  dunno  but  'twas  the  woman  put  the  devil  into  him,  as  women 
do   into   two-legged   animals  sometimes,  —  don't   they,  young 


man 


p" 


"  The  woman  ?  0  yes,  the  young  lady,"  said  Claud,  re- 
minded of  his  duty  as  a  gallant  by  the  remark,  though  unwil- 
ling to  appropriate  to  himself  the  prophetic  joke  with  which  it 
was  coupled.      "  Where  is  she  ?     I  must  go  and  see  to  her." 

"  She  has  already  -seen  to  herself,  I  guess,"  said  the  hunter. 
"  As  I  was  coming  up,  I  glimpsed  her  cutting  round  and  run- 
ning, like  a  wild  turkey,  for  the  clearing,  to  which  the  moose 
had  cut  off  her  retreat.  She  has  reached  the  house  by  this 
time,  doubtless ;  for  it  is  hard  by,  down  on  the  river  here,  a 
*'  hundred  rods  or  such  a  matter." 

"  Who  is  she  ?  Do  you  know  the  family  ?  "  eagerly  inquired 
the  young  man. 

"  No,"  answered  the  hunter.  "  They  are  new-comers  in 
these  parts." 

"What  could  have  brought  her  here  so  far  into  the  woods?" 
persisted  Claud. 

"  The  raspberries,  very  likely,"  said  the  other,  indifferently, 
while  taiving  out  and  examining  the  edge  of  his  knife.  "  But 
come,  we  must  get  this  moose  into  some  condition,  so  that  he  will 
keep  ;  then  be  off  to  let  the  settlers  know  of  our  luck.  And 
early  to-morrow  morning,  we  will,  all  hands,  come  up  the 
river  in  boats,  and  distribute  him.  He  will  make  fresh  meat 
enough  to  supply  the  whole-  settlement." 


70  GAUT  gueley;   or, 

The  hunter  now,  with  the  assistance  of  his  new  pupil  in  the 
craft,  proceeded  to  dressing  the  moose,  the  process  of  which, 
bleeding,  disemboweling,  and  partially  skinning,  was  soon  com- 
pleted ;  when,  cutting  some  stout  green  skids  with  the  hatchet 
he  ever  carried  in  his  belt,  and  inserting  the  ends  under  the 
bulky  carcass,  the  two  contrived  to  raise  it,  by  means  of  old 
logs  rolled  up  for  the  purpose,  several  feet  from  the  ground,  so 
as  to  insure  a  free  circulation  of  air  beneath  it.  This  being 
done,  the  hunter  kindled  two  log  fires,  one  on  each  side,  to 
keep  off,  he  said,  the  wolves  and  other  carnivorous  animals. 
They  then,  after  cutting  out  the  tongue  and  lip,  which  are 
esteemed  the  tidbits  of  this  animal,  took  up  their  line  of  march 
for  the  lake,  which,  with  the  long,  rapid  lope  of  the  woodsman, 
measured  off,  as  usual,  in  Indian  file,  and  with  little  or  no 
interrupting  conversation,  they  reached  in  a  .short  time,  and 
without  further  adventure. 

"  Now,"  said  the  hunter,  as  he  reached  the  spot  where  his 
canoe  was  tied,  and  turned  round  towards  his  lagging  com- 
panion,—  "now,  sir,  what  say  you  to  taking  a  five-pound 
trout?" 

"  Perfectly  willing,"  replied  Claud,  smiling ;  "  and  I  would 
even  take  up  with  a  smaller  one." 

"  Well,  I  won't,  — that  is,  not  much  smaller ;  and  I  think  I'll 
have  one  of  at  least  the  size  I  named." 

"  What  makes  you  so  confident  ?  " 

"  Because,  it  being  a  hot,  shiny  morning,  they  took  to  their 
coverts  early,  and  must  be  sharp-set,  by  this  time.  Besides 
that,  it  is  just  about  the  best  time  for  them  that  could  be  got 
up :  a  deep  cloud,  as  you  see,  is  coming  over  the  sun,  and  this 
wind  is  moving  the  water  to  the  bottom.  All  sizes  will  now 
be  coming  out,  and  the  big  ones,  like  big  folks,  will  make  all 
the  little  ones  stand  back  till  their  betters  are  served." 

Each  now  taking  to  his  canoe,  they  pushed  out  some  twenty 
or  thirty  rods  into  the  lake,  cast  anchor,  and  threw  out  their 
lines.     Claud,  who  baited  with  grubs,  soon  had  drawn  in  two, 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  71 

weighing  as  many  pounds  a  piece,  and  began  to  feel  disposed 
to  banter  the  hunter,  who  had  baited  with  a  flap  of  moose-skin, 
which  .  he  had  brought  along  with  him,  and  which,  to  Claud, 
seemed  Httle  Ukely  to  attract  the  fishes  to  his  hook.  But  he 
soon  found  himself  mistaken ;  for,  turning  to  give  utterance  to 
what  was  passing  in  his  mind,  he  beheld  the  other  dallying 
with  a  trout,  which  he  had  hooked,  and  now  held  flapping  on 
the  surface  of  the  water,  evidently  much  larger  than  either  of 
his  own. 

"  That  is  a  fine  one ! "  cried  Claud.  "  Why  don't  you  pull 
him  in?" 

"  Not  big  enough,"  said  the  hunter,  in  reply  to  the  question ; 
while  he  turned  to  the  fish  with  an  impatient  "  Pshaw !  what 
work  the  cretur  makes  of  it!  Hop  off,  hop  off,  you  fool! 
There,"  he  added,  as  the  trout  at  length  broke  away  and  dis- 
appeared, "there,  that  is  right.  Now  be  off  with  yourself 
till  you  grow  bigger,  and  give  me  a  chance  at  the  fine  fellow 
whose  tail  I  saw  swashing  up  round  here  just  now." 

The  hunter  then  carefully  adjusted  his  bait,  and  threw  out 
the  whole  lingth  of  his  line.  After  alternately  sinking  his  hook, 
and  then  drawing  it  to  the  surface,  for  two  or  three  throws,  the 
line  suddenly  straightened,  moved  slowly  backward  at  first, 
then  swept  rapidly  round  and  round,  or  darted  off  in  sharp 
short  angles,  with  downward  and  forward  plunges  so  quick  and 
powerful  as  to  make  the  stout  sapling  pole  sway  and  bend,  like 
a  whipstock,  in  the  steadying  hands  of  the  hunter.  For  four 
or  five  minutes  he  made  no  attempt  to  draw  in  his  prize,  but 
let  the  fish  have  full  play  to  the  length  of  its  tether,  till  its 
efforts  had  become  comparatively  feeble ;  when,  slowly  bringing 
it  alongside,  he  took  the  line  in  his  hand,  and,  with  a  quick 
jerk,  landed  the  noble  fellow  safely  on  the  bottom  of  the 
canoe. 

"  There,  sir ! "  exclaimed  the  hunter,  seizing  the  trout  by  the 
^lls,  and  triumphantly  holding  it  up  to  view,  "  there  is  about 
what  I  bargained  for :  two  feet  long,  not  an  inch  shorter,  — 


72  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

seven  pounds  weight,  and  not  an  ounce  lighter!  Kow,  being 
satisfied,  I  am  done." 

"  What,  leave  off  with  such  luck  ?  "  asked  Claud  in  surprise. 

"  Yes,  young  man,"  said  the  other,  "  I  hold  it  all  but  a  down- 
right sin  to  draw  from  God's  storehouse  a  single  pound  more 
than  is  really  needed.  This  will  last  my  family  as  long  as  it 
will  keep,  this  warm  weather,  with  the  plenty  of  moose-meat 
we  shall  have.  Any  thing  more  is  a  w^aste,  which  /will  not 
commit.  And  you,  sir,  who  have  just  hauled  in  your  thii'd  and 
largest  one,  I  perceive,  and  hqve  now  nearly  as  many  pounds 
as  I  have,  —  what  can  you  want  of  more  ?  Come,  let  us  pull 
up  and  off  for  our  homes.     It  is  nearly  time,  any  way." 

Although  loth  to  break  off  his  sport,  yet  inwardly  acknowl- 
edging the  justness  of  the  hunter's  philosophy,  Claud  reluctantly 
drew  in  and  wound  up  his  line,  hauled  in  his  anchor,  and, 
handling  his  oar,  shot  out  abreast  of  the  other,  who  had  al- 
ready got  under  way,  into  the  heaving  waters  of  the  now 
agitated  lake.  Side  by  side,  with  the  quick  and  easy  dip  of 
their  elastic  single  oars,  the  rowers  now  sent  their  light,  sharp 
canoes,  dug  out  to  the  thinness  of  a  board  from  the  straight- 
grained  dry  pine,  rapidly  ahead  over  the  broken  and  subdued 
waves  of  the  cove,  in  which  they  had  been  stationed,  till  they 
rounded  the  intervening  woody  point  which  had  cut  off  the 
view  of  the  lower  end  of  the  lake. 

"  Good  Heavens ! "  exclaimed  Claud,  starting  back,  with  sus- 
pended oar,  as  now,  coming  out  in  view  of  the  lake,  his  eye  fell 
on  the  huge  pillar  of  smoke,  which,  deeply  enshrouding  that  part 
of  the  distant  forest  lying  east  of  the  outlet  of  the  lake  with  its 
expanded  base,  was  rolling  upward  its  thousand  dark,  doubling 
folds  ;  "  good  Heavens,  Phillips,  look  yonder !  Where  and  what 
is  it  ?     It  looks  like  a  burning  city." 

"  It  is  a  fire,  of  course,  and  no  small  one,  either ;  but  where, 
I  can't  exactly  make  out,"  slowly  responded  the  hunter,  intently 
fixing  his  keen  eyes  on  the  magnificent  spectacle  which  had 
thus  unexpectedly  burst  on  their  view  in  the  distance.     "  Let 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  73 

me  see,"  he  continued,  running  his  eye  along  the  border  of  the 
lake  in  search  of  his  old  landmarks :  "  there  is  the  tall  stub 
that  stands  half  a  mile  down  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  and 
is  now  just  visible  in  the  edge  of  the  smoke ;  but  where  is  the 
king  pine,  that  stands  nearly  against  it,  over  in  your  slash  ? 
Young  man,"  he  added,  with  a  startled  air,  "  was  your  father 
calculating  to  burn  that  slash  to-day  ?  " 

"  No,  unless  it  looked  likely  to  rain." 

"  Well  it  does  look  likely  to  rain,  in  the  shape  of  a  shower 
gathering  yonder,  which  has  already  given  out  one  or  two 
grumbles  of  distant  thunder,  if  my  ears  served  me  as  well  as 
usual." 

"  Yes ;  but  such  a  smoke  and  fire  can't  come  from  our  slash. 
It  must  be  a  larger  and  more  distant  one." 

"  So  I  thought  at  first ;  but  I  begin  to  think  different.  Do 
you  see  that  perpendicular,  broken  line  of  light,  occasionally 
flashing  out  from  the  smoke,  and  extending  upward  to  a  height 
that  no  gi'ound  fire  ever  reached  ?  That  is  your  king  pine  in 
a  blaze  from  bottom  to  top.  Hark !  why,  I  can  hear  it  roaring 
clear  here,  like  a  distant  hurricane.  It  must  be  a  prodigious 
hot  fire  to  make  all  that  show  and  noise." 

"  Can  it  endanger  our  buildings  ?  "  asked  Claud,  in  alarm. 

"  I  am  afraid  so,"  replied  the  other,  with  a  dubious  shake  of 
the  head.  "  But  hark  again !  'tis  your  father's  horn  blowing 
for  help." 

'*  Let  us  row,  then,  as  for  our  lives ! "  cried  the  now  thor- 
oughly aroused  and  agitated  young  man.  "  If  any  thing  hap- 
pens before  I  get  there,  I  shall  never  forgive  myself  for  my 
prolonged  absence,  to  the  last  day  of  my  life.  You  will  join 
me  in  going  there,  will  you  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  outstrip  you  by  half  a  mile.  But  that  won't  be 
the  best  way.  Throw  your  anchor  into  the  stern  of  my  canoe, 
and  fall  in  behind.  There ;  now  keep  the  anchor-line  slack 
between  us,  if  you  can,"  rapidly  said  the  hunter,  bending  his 


74 

sinewy  form  to  the  work,  with  a  power  that  sent  his  canoe  half 
out  of  the  water  at  every  stroke  of  his  swiftly-falling  oar. 

Leaving  them  to  bound  over  the  billowy  waters  of  the  lake 
towards  their  destination,  with  all  the  speed  which  strong  arms 
and  nerves  made  tense  with  excitement  could  impart,  let  us 
anticipate  their  arrival,  to  note  what  befell  the  objects  of  their 
anxieties,  whom  we  so  abruptly  left  in  their  perils  from  the 
fire,  to  bring  up  the  other  incidents  of  the  day  having  an  equal 
bearing  on  the  story,  with  which  we  have  thus  far  occupied 
the  present  somewhat  extended  chapter. 

The  immediate  danger  to  their  house  from  the  fire,  with 
which  we  left  the  alarmed  Elwood  and  his  wife  contending,  was, 
indeed,  easily  overcome  by  dashing  pails  of  water  over  the 
roof.  But  scarcely  had  they  achieved  this  temporary  triumph 
in  one  place  over  an  element  proverbially  terrible  when  it 
becomes  master,  before  it  was  seen  kindling  into  flickering 
blazes  on  the  roof  of  the  barn  and  the  locks  of  hay  protruding 
from  its  windows  and  the  crevices  between  the  logs  of  which 
it  was  built.  Here,  also,  they  soon  succeeded  in  extinguishing 
the  fire  in  the  same  manner.  They  were  not,  however,  allowed 
a  moment's  respite  from  either  their  labors  or  alarms.  The 
fences  were  by  this  time  on  fire  in  numerous  places ;  and  the 
chips  and  wood  in  the  door-yard  were  seen  to  be  igniting  from 
the  sparks  and  cinders  which,  every '  instant,  fell  thicker  and 
hotter  around  their  seemingly  devoted  domicil.  The  fences, 
after  a  few  vain  attempts  to  save  them,  were  given  up  a  prey 
to  the  devouring  element,  and  the  whole  exertions  of  the 
panting  and  exhausted  sufferers  were  turned  to  saving  their 
buildings ;  and  even  at  that  they  had  no  time  to  spare ;  for,  so 
hot  had  the  air  become  from  the  burning  slash,  which, 
through  its  whole  length,  was  now  glowing  with  the  red  heat 
of  a  furnace,  that  every  vestige  of  moisture  had  soon  disap- 
peared from  the  drenched  roofs,  and  they  were  again  on  fire. 

"  Is  there  no  way  of  raising  help  ?  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Elwood, 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  tmbAGOG.  7t) 

in  her  extremity,  as  she  witnessed  these  increasing  manifesta- 
tions of  danger. 

"  I  never  thought  of  that,"  said  Elwood.  "  Hand  me  the 
dinner-horn.  If  there  are  any  within  hearing,  they  will  under- 
stand, with  the  appearance  of  this  fire,  that  we  are  calling  for 
assistance." 

With  a  few  sharp,  loud  blasts,  Elwood  threw  aside  the  horn, 
and  again  flew  to  the  work  of  extinguishing  the  fires  where 
they  became  most  threatening.  And  thus,  for  nearly  another 
hour,  the  distressed  settler  and  his  heroic  wife,  suffering  deeply 
from  heat  and  exhaustion,  toiled  on,  without  gaining  the  least 
on  the  fearful  enemy  by  which  they  were  so  closely  encom- 
passed. And  they  were  on  the  point  of  givhag  up  in  despair, 
when  the  welcome  shout  of  "  Help  at  hand ! "  from  the  ringing 
voice  of  the  hunter,  then  just  entering  the  opening,  revived 
hope  in  their  sinking  hearts.  The  next  moment  that  help  was 
on  the  spot ;  but  it  was  unnecessary.  A  mightier  Hand  was 
about  to  interpose.  From  the  bold,  black  van  of  the  hurrying 
and  deeply-charged  rack  of  cloud,  that  had  now  unheeded 
gained  the  zenith,  a  stream  of  fire,  before  which  all  other  fires 
paled  into  nothing,  at  that  instant  descended  on  the  top  of 
the  burning  pine,  and,  rending  it  from  top  to  bottom  by  the 
single  explosion,  sent  its  wide-flying  fragments  in  blazing  circles 
to  the  ground.  A  sharp,  rattling  sound,  terminating  in  a  can- 
non-like report,  followed,  shaking  the  rent  and  crashing  heavens 
above,  and  the  bounding  earth  beneath,  in  the  awful  concussion. 
Before  the  stunned  and  blinded  settlers  had  recovered  from  the 
shock,  or  the  deep  roll  of  the  echoing  thunder  had  died  away 
among  the  distant  mountains,  another  and  more  welcome  roar 
saluted  their  ears.  It  was  that  of  the  rapidly-approaching  rain 
striking  the  foliage  of  the  neighboring  forest ;  and,  scarcely  had 
they  time  to  gain  the  cover  of  the  house,  before  the  deluging 
torrents  poured  over  it  with  a  force  and  fury  beneath  which 
the  quelled  fires  speedily  sunk,  hissing,  into  darkness  and  death. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

"  Wo  is  the  youth  whom  Fancy  gains, 
Winning  from  Reason's  hands  the  reins." 

The  morning  of  the  next  day,  serene  and  beautiful  as  a 
bride  decked  in  her  fresh  robes  and  redolent  in  her  forest  per- 
fumery, came  smiling  over  the  wilderness  hills  of  the  east,  to 
greet  our  little  pioneer  family  on  their  deliverance  from  the 
perils  of  yesterday.  The  war  of  the  elements,  that  had  raged 
so  fearfully  round  their  seemingly  devoted  domicile,  had  all 
passed  away;  and,  after  sleeping  off  the  fatigue  and  excite- 
ment of  the  previous  day,  they  rose  to  look  around  them,  to 
find  themselves  safe,  and  call  themselves  satisfied.  Their  build- 
ings had  been,  after  all,  but  very  slightly  injured,  and  their 
green  crops  but  little  damaged;  their  fences,  indeed,  were 
mostly  consumed ;  but  these  could  be  replaced  from  the  timber 
o£  the  burnt  slash,  with  little  more  labor  than  would  be  required 
to  pile  up  and  burn  that  timber  where  it  lay.  But,  whatever 
such  additional  labor  might  be,  it  was  more  than  compensated 
by  the  very  intensity  of  the  fire  which  caused  it,  and  which,  at 
the  same  time,  had  so  utterly  consumed  all  the  underbrush, 
limbs  of  the  trees,  and  even  the  smaller  trees  themselves,  that 
weeks  less  than  with  ordinary  burns  would  be  required  in  the 
clearing.  El  wood,  therefore,  came  in  from  his  moraing  survey 
happily  disappointed  in  the  supposed  extent  of  his  losses  ;  and, 
joining  his  wife  and  son  in  the  house,  whom  he  found  busily 
engaged  in  cutting  up,  mealing,  and  placing  in  the  hissing  pan 
over  the  fire  the  broad,  red,  and  rich-looking  pieces  of  trout, 
the  fruit  of  yesterday's  excursion  on  the  lake,  he  told  them, 
with  a  gratified  air,  the  result  of  his  observation,  which,  on  a 

(76) 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  77 

merchant-like  calculation  of  loss  and  gain  from  the  conflagra- 
tion, he  made  out  to  show  even  a  balance  in  his  favor.  Mrs. 
Elwood  rejoiced  with  her  husband  on  the  happy  turn  of  affairs, 
and  wondered  \s[hj  her  son  did  not  manifest  the  same  flow  of 
spirits.  But  the  latter,  for  some  reason  or  other,  appeared  un- 
usually abstracted  during  the  whole  morning  ;  and,  when  asked 
to  relate  the  particulars  of  his  perilous  adventure  with  the 
moose,  which  he  had  the  evening  before  but  briefly  mentioned, 
he  exhibited  a  hesitation,  and  a  sort  of  shying  of  the  question, 
in  that  part  of  the  adventure  relating  to  the  rescued  girl, 
Tvhich  did  not  escape  the  quick  eye  of  the  mother.  It  was  evi- 
dent to  her  that  something  was  kept  back.  But  what  that 
something  was  she  was  wholly  unable  to  conjecture.  It  was  so 
unusual  for  her  son  to  show  any  lack  of  frankness  that  the 
circumstance  disturbed  her,  and,  though  she  knew  not  exactly 
why,  sent  a  boding  chill  over  her  heart,  which  caused  her  also 
to  become  thoughtful  and  silent.  And  Mr.  Elwood,  who  pos- 
sessed none  of  those  mental  sympathies  which,  in  some,  will 
often  be  found  unconsciously  mingling  with  the  thoughts  of 
others,  so  far,  at  least,  as  to  apprise  them  of  the  general  char- 
acter and  drift  of  those  thoughts,  now,  in  his  turn,  wondered 
why  his  wife,  as  well  as  son,  should  all  at  once  become  so  unsocial 
and  taciturn. 

It  will  doubtless  be  generally  said  that  this  mental  sympathy, 
or  the  intuitive  perception  of  the  main  drift  of  what  is  passing 
in  the  minds  of  others,  has  an  existence  only  in  the  fancy  of 
fictionists.  We,  however,  after  years  of  close  observation,  have 
wholly  ceased  to  doubt  its  reality.  Scores  of  times  have  we 
been  affected  by  thoughts  and  intentions  which  we  knew  must 
have  a  source  other  than  in  our  own  mind.  Scores  of  times 
have  we,  in  this  manner,  been  put  on  our  guard  against  the 
selfish  designs  which  others  were  harboring  to  our  disadvantage, 
of  which  no  tongue  had  informed  us,  and  of  which,  afterwards, 
we  had  tangible  proof  And,  on  careful  inquiry  among  per- 
sons of  thought  and  sensibility,  we  have  become  convinced  that 
7*  0 


78  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

the  principle  holds  good  to  a  very  considerable  extent  among 
others ;  and  that  attention  to  the  subject  is  only  wanting  to 
make  it  a  generally  received  opinion.  It  was  this  principle 
that  now  affected  Mrs.  Elwood :  not  that  she  had  the  most  dis- 
tant idea  that  her  son  harbored  aught  of  wrong  intention  to- 
ward any  of  his  family,  but  she  felt  that  his  mind  was  somehow 
becoming  subservient  to  schemes  which  existed  somewhere  in 
the  minds  of  others,  which  concerned  her  or  her  family.  But 
she  felt  rather  than  thought  this ;  and,  knowing  she  could  give 
no  reason  for  her  singular  impression,  prudently  kept  it  to  her- 
self. 

"  Good-morning,  good-morning,  gentlefolks,"  rang  out  the 
cheery  voice  of  the  hunter,  who  now  looked  in  at  the  door  as 
the  Elwoods  were  rising  from  their  breakfast.  "  Things  look 
a  little  altered  round  here,  this  morning.  I  should  hardly  have 
known  the  place  without  the  king  pine,  which,  in  its  prime,  was 
a  tree  of  a  thousand." 

"  That  tree  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  yours,  I  suppose," 
remarked  Elwood. 

"  Yes,  of  twenty  years'  standing ;  and  I  shall  miss  and  mourn 
it  as  an  old  friend.  But  it  died  like  a  monarch,  yielding  only 
under  the  direct  blow  of  the  Almighty." 

"  Then  you  consider  the  lightning  more  especially  the  instru- 
ment of  Heaven  than  the  wind,  fire,  and  other  elements,  do 

you?" 

"  To  be  sure  I  do.  "Wind,  we  know  what  it  is ;  fire  we  know ; 
water  we  also  know ;  because  we  can  see  them,  touch  them, 
measure  them.  But  who  can  see  a  piece  of  lightning  when  not 
in  motion  ?  who  can  find  the  least  fragment  of  it  after  it  has 
struck  ?  It  rends  a  tree,  makes  a  smooth  hole  through  a 
board,  and  ploughs  up  the  ground.  But  go  to  the  tree,  and 
there  is  nothing  there  ;  look  under  the  board,  it  is  the  same ; 
and  dig  along  the  furrow  it  has  ploughed  to  where  it  stopped, 
and  it  is  not  there,  as  it  would  be  if  it  was  any  material  thing, 
like  a  bullet,  an  axe,  knife,  or  other  instrument  that  produces 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  79 

sucli  effects,  in  all  other  instances.  No,  'tis  not  matter ;  it  is 
the  power  of  God ;  and  your  philosophers,  who  pretend  to 
explain  it,  don't  know  what  they  are  talking  about.  But  enough 
of  that.  I  came  here  to  rally  you  out  to  go  up  the  river  with 
the  rest  of  us,  for  the  moose.     You  will  both  go,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  Claud  will,  doubtless,"  replied  INIr.  Elwood.  "  Indeed,  I 
have  half  a  mind  to  go  myself." 

"  Perhaps  Claud,  having  had  a  fatiguing  excursion  yester- 
day, will  stay  at  home,  and  let  his  father  go,  to-day,"  sug- 
gested Mrs.  Elwood. 

"  It  was  not  at  all  fatiguing,  mother,"  responded  Claud. 

"  The  wind  blows  up  the  river  to-day,  ma'am,"  said  the  hunt- 
er, with  a  knowing  look. 

Little  more  was  said ;  but  the  result  was  that  Claud  and  the 
hunter  now  soon  went  off  together  on  the  proposed  excursion. 
On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Magalloway,  they  found  four 
others  waiting  for  them,  with  their  canoes,  when  the  whole 
party  commenced  their  little  voyage  up  the  river.  After  leis- 
urely rowing  against  the  here  slow  and  gentle  current  of  the 
stream  for  an  hour  or  two,  they  reached  their  destination,  and 
hauled  up  at  a  point  most  convenient  for  gaining  the  spot  where 
the  slaughtered  moose  had  been  left  the  evening  before.  Led 
on  by  the  hunter,  all  now  started  for  the  place  just  named, 
except  Claud,  who,  under  pretence  of  taking  a  short  gunning 
bout  in  the  woods,  and  of  soon  coming  round  to  join  his  com- 
panions, proceeded,  as  soon  as  the  latter  were  out  of  sight,  with 
slow  and  hesitating  steps,  up  the  river,  for  the  opening  and 
supposed  residence  of  the  fair  unknown  who  had  so  long  been 
the  object  of  his  wondering  fancies,  and  who  had,  notwithstand- 
ing the  exciting  scenes  he  had  witnessed  at  home,  been  the 
especial  subject  of  his  dreams  after  he  retired  to  rest  the  night 
before.  But  what  a  strange,  wayward,  timid,  doubting,  and 
inconsistent  thing  is  the  tender  passion  in  its  incipient  stages, 
especially  w^hen  that  passion  has  principally  been  wrought  up 
by  the  imagination !     He  soon  came  to  the  clearing  of  which 


80 

he  was  in  quest,  and  obtained  a  clear  view  of  the,  to  him,  charmed 
cottage.  But,  instead  of  entering  the  opening  directly,  he  went 
nearly  round  it,  frequently  pausing  and  advancing  nearly  to 
the  edge  of  the  woods ;  but  as  often  retreating,  being  unable 
quite  to  make  up  his  mind  to  show  himself  at  all  to  the  inmates 
of  the  cottage.  Once  he  gave  it  up  entirely,  and  started  ofif 
for  his  companions.  But,  after  he  had  proceeded  a  dozen  rods, 
he  came  again  to  a  stand,  hesitated  a  while,  and,  as  if  ashamed 
of  his  irresolution,  wheeled  rapidly  about,  proceeded,  with  a 
quick,  firm  step,  to  the  border  of  the  woods,  struck  directly  for 
the  house,  and,  with  assumed  unconcern,  marched  up  to  the 
door,  —  where  he  was  met,  not  by  the  young  lady  he  expected 
first  to  see,  but  by  her  father.  But  who  was  that  father  ?  To 
his  utter  surprise,  it  was  Ms  father's  old  tempter  and  miner, 
the  dark  and  inscrutable  Gaut  Gurley ! 

With  a  manner,  for  him,  unusually  gracious,  Gurley  extended 
his  hand  to  Claud;  ushered  him  into  the  house;  formally  intro- 
duced him  to  his  wife,  an  ordinary,  abject-looking  woman ;  and 
then  to  his  daughter,  the  fair,  dark-eyed,  tall,  shapely,  and 
every  way  magnificent  Avis  Gurley,  the  girl  who  hact  so  long, 
but  unwittingly,  been  the  object  of  the  young  man's  dreamy 
fancies. 

"  I  have  but  very  lately  discovered,"  remarked  Gurley,  who 
seemed  to  feel  himself  called  on  to  lead  off  in  the  conversation, 
after  the  usual  commonplace  remarks  had  been  exchanged, 
"  I  have  but  lately  discovered  that  I  had,  by  a  singular  coin- 
cidence, again  cast  my  lot  in  the  same  settlement  with  your 
family.  Having  made  up  my  mind,  a  few  months  ago,  to  try 
a  new  country,  and  coming  across  the  owner  of  this  place,  who 
was  on  a  journey  in  New  Hampshire,  and  who  offered  to  sell 
and  move  off  at  once,  I  came  on  with  him,  struck  a  bargain, 
returned  for  my  family,  and  brought  them  here  about  a  fortnight 
ago.  But,  having  been  absent  most  of  the  time  since,  I  didn't 
mistrust  who  my  neighbors  were." 

"And  you  probably  perceived,  sir,"  said  Avis,  turning  to 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  81 

Claud,  with  a  smile,  "you  probably  perceived,  in  your  yester- 
day's adventure  up  here  in  the  woods,  that  I  have  been  in  as 
bad  a  predicament  as  my  father." 

"  How  is  that.  Avis?"  asked  Gurley. 

"  Why,  father,"  responded  the  other,  "  Mr.  Elwood  will 
readily  suppose  that  I  should  not  have  been  straying  into  the 
wood  for  flowers  and  berries,  had  I  known  we  had  any  such 
neighbors  as  the  one  from  whose  pursuit  he  so  kindly  rescued 
me  last  evening." 

"  I  was  as  much  surprised  at  the  ferocity  of  the  animal  as  you 
were,  I  presume,"  said  Claud,  in  reply.  "  And  I  was  far  more 
indebted  to  the  hunter,  Phillips,  for  my  oivn  rescue,  than  you 
were  to  me  for  yours.  I  merely  turned  the  furious  brute  aside. 
It  was  he  who,  coming  up  in  the  nick  of  time,  brought  him 
dead  to  the  earth." 

"  I  supposed  there  were  two  of  you,"  remarked  Gurley.  "  I* 
was  half  a  mile  up  the  river,  yet  I  heard  the  firing  plain  enough  ; 
and,  returning  soon  after,  and  hearing  my  daughter's  story,  I 
went  to  the  place  ;  but,  by  that  time,  you  had  dressed  the  ani- 
mal and  were  gone.  By  the  voices  I  heard  in  the  woods,  a 
short  time  ago,  I  concluded  you  came  up,  with  others,  for  the 
beef" 

"  We  did.  You  here  should  certainly  be  entitled  to  a  liberal 
share.     Will  you  not  go  up  there  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  I  was  thinking  about  it  before  you  came  in.  I  will 
go ;  but,  as  I  wish  to  go  a  short  distance  into  the  woods,  partly  in 
another  direction,  I  will  now  walk  on  and  come  round  to  the 
spot ;  and,  if  I  don't  meet  you  there,  you  may  just  tell  your 
father  how  surprised  I  have  been  to  find  myself  again  in  the 
same  neighborhood  with  himself" 

"  Umph  ! "  half  audibly  exclaimed  the  hitherto  mute  wife, 
with  a  look  that  seemed  to  say,  "  What  a  bouncer  he  is  telling 
now  ! "  and  she  was  evidently  about  to  say  something,  comport- 
ing with  the  significant  exclamation,  but  a  glance  from  her  hus- 
band, as  he  passed  out  of  the  door,  quelled  her  into  silence. 


82  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

On  the  departure  of  Gurley,  his  wife  rose  and  left  the  room ; 
when  Claud,  unexpectedly  finding  himself  alone  with  his  fair 
companion,  instead  of  entering  into  the  easy  conversation  with 
her  which  the  dictates  of  common  gallantry  would  seem  to  re- 
quire, soon  began  to  manifest  signs  of  constraint  and  embarrass- 
ment, which  did  not  escape  the  eye  of  the  young  lady,  and 
which  caused  her  no  little  surprise  and  perplexity.  She  knew 
nothing  of  what  had  been  passing  in  his  mind,  nor  once  dreamed 
of  the  circumstance  which  had  first  impressed  her  image  there. 
She  had,  indeed,  known  nothing  of  the  Elwoods,  except  what 
she  had  heard  her  father  say  of  them  as  a  family,  with  whose 
head  he  had  in  some  way  been  formerly  connected  in  business. 
Had  she  been  asked,  she  would  doubtless  have  recalled  the 
fact  that  her  father  had,  the  year  before,  employed  an  artist  to 
paint  a  miniature  Hkeness  of  her,  which  he  subsequently  pre- 
tended to  have  sent  to  a  relative  of  his  residing  in  Quebec,  and 
she  never  entertained  the  least  suspicion  that  it  was  not  thus 
properly  disposed  of.  She  had  never  seen  Claud  till  yesterday, 
when  he  so  opportunely  appeared  for  her  rescue;  and,  even 
then,  she  had  no  idea  who  it  was  to  whom  she  had  thus  become 
indebted.  She,  however,  had  been  much  prepossessed  with 
his  appearance  and  manly  bearing,  and  felt  a  lively  sense  of 
gratitude  for  the  voluntary  service ;  and  when,  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  her  father,  she  became  apprised  of  the  character  of  her 
deliverer,  she  felt  doubly  gratified  that  he  had  turned  out  to  be 
one  who,  she  believed,  would  not  take  any  mean  advantage  of 
the  obligation.  For  these  reasons,  she  could  not  understand 
why  he  should  appear  so  reserved,  unless  it  was  that  she  had 
failed  to  interest  him ;  and,  finally  concluding  that  this  must  be 
the  case,  she  did  that  which,  with  her  maidenly  pride  and  high 
spirit,  she  would  otherwise  have  scorned  to  do,  she  exerted  her- 
self to  the  utmost  to  interest  and  please  him ;  and,  when  he  rose 
to  return  to  his  companions,  she  followed  him  into  the  yard, 
and  smilingly  said : 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  83 

"  You  are  fond  of  gunning  excursions,  are  jou  not,  Mr. 
Elwood?" 

"  Yes,  0  yes,  quite  so,"  replied  Claud,  with  awkward  hesi- 
tation. 

"  And  would  not  an  occasional  excursion  in  this  direction  be 
as  pleasant  as  any  other  ?"  she  asked,  with  playful  significance. 

But,  instead  of  replying  in  the  same  spirit,  the  bewildered 
young  man  turned,  and  sent  a  gaze  into  the  depths  of  her  lus- 
trous dark  eyes,  so  serious  and  intense  that  it  brought  a  blush 
to  her  cheek ;  when,  stammering  out  his  intention  of  often  tak- 
ing her  house  in  his  way  in  future,  he  hurriedly  bade  her  good- 
by,  and  departed,  leaving  her  more  perplexed  than  ever. 

As  for  Claud,  it  would  be  difficult  to  describe  his  sensations 
on  leaving  the  house,  or  make  any  thing  definite  out  of  the 
operations  of  his  mind.  Both  heart  and  brain  were  working 
tumultuously,  but  not  in  unison.  The  train  which  his  imagina- 
tion had  been  laying  was  on  the  point  of  being  kindled  into  a 
blaze  by  the  reality.  He  knew  it ;  he  felt  it ;  but  he  knew 
also  that  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  to  smother  the  flame  while 
it  yet  might  be  controlled.  The  unexpected  and  startling  dis- 
covery which  he  had  just  made,  that  the  girl  who  had  so 
wrought  upon  his  fancy,  both  when  seen  in  the  picture  and  met 
in  the  original,  was  the  daughter  of  Gaut  Gurley,  raised  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  in  the  path  he  found  himself  entering,  which 
his  judgment  told  him  could  only  be  avoided  by  his  imme- 
diate desistance.  For  he  was  well  aware  how  deeply  rooted 
was  his  mother's  aversion  to  this  man,  and  how  fatal  had 
been  his  influence  over  his  father,  who  had  but  a  few  months 
before  escaped  from  his  toils,  and  then  only,  perhaps,  because 
there  was  no  more  to  be  gained  by  keeping  him  in  them  any 
longer.  A  connection  with  the  daughter,  therefore,  however  op- 
posite in  character  from  her  father,  would  not  only  greatly  mar 
his  mother's  happiness,  but  in  all  probability  lead  to  a  renewal  of 
the  intimacy  between  his  father  and  Gurley ;  an  event  which  he 
himself  felt  was  to  be  deprecated.    But  the  Demon  of  Sophistry, 


84  GAUT   GURLEY 


who  first  taught  self-deceiving  man  how  to  make  "  the  wish 
father  to  the  thought,"  here  interposing,  whispered  to  the  in- 
cipient lover  that  his  father  had  reformed,  and  why  not  then 
Gaut  Gurley  ?  This  reasoning,  however,  could  not  be  made  to 
satisfy  his  judgment ;  and  again  commenced  the  struggle  be- 
tween head  and  heart,  one  pulling  one  way  and  the  other  in 
another  way,  —  too  often  an  unequal  struggle,  too  often  like  one 
of  those  contests  between  man  and  wife,  where  reason  suc- 
cumbs and  will  comes  off  triumphant. 

Such  were  the  fluctuating  thoughts  and  purposes  which 
occupied  the  agitated  bosom  of  Claud  Elwood,  in  his  solitary 
walk  to  the  place  where  the  boats  had  been  left,  and  where  the 
subject  was  now  driven  from  his  mind,  for  a  while,  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  his  companions  and  the  merry  jokes  of  the  hunter 
They  had  cut  up  the  moose  meat,  which  they  had  found  in 
good  condition,  and  brought  all  they  deemed  worth  saving  down 
to  the  landing.  And,  being  now  ready  to  embark,  they  appor- 
tioned the  meat  among  the  different  canoes,  and  rowed  with  the 
now  favoring  current  rapidly  down  the  river  together  till  they 
reached  its  mouth,  when  they  separated,  and  bore  their  allotted 
portions  of  the  moose  to  their  respective  homes. 

For  the  two  succeeding  days  and  nights  the  hapless  Claud 
was  the  prey  of  conflicting  emotions,  —  the  more  oppressive 
because  he  carefully  kept  them  pent  up  in  his  own  bosom.  He 
dared  not  make  the  least  allusion  before  his  parents  to  the  lady 
whom  they  knew  he  had  rescued,  or  his  visit  to  her  home,  for 
he  could  not  do  so  without  revealing  the  fact  that  the  dreaded 
Gaut  Gurley,  with  his  family,  had  found  his  way  into  the 
vicinity  ;  while,  if  he  did  disclose  this  fact,  he  felt  that  he  could 
not  hold  up  his  head  before  them  till  he  had  conquered  his 
feelings  towards  the  daughter.  And  sometimes  he  thought  he 
had  conquered  them,  and  resolved  that  he  would  never  see  her 
again.  But,  brooding  over  his  feelings  in  the  solitudes  of  the 
woods,  he  only  cherished  and  fanned  the  flame  he  was  thinking 
to  extinguish ;  and  he  again  relapsed,  —  again  paused,  —  again 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  85 

"  resolved,  re-resolved,  and  did  the  same ; "  for,  on  the  third 
daj,  under  the  excuse  of  taking  another  excursion  on  the  lake, 
he  was  drawn,  as  surely  as  the  vibrating  needle  to  the  pole,  to 
the  beautiful  load-star  of  the  Magallowaj. 

Suspecting  the  state  of  young  Elwood's  feelings  towards  her, 
and  fearinsr  that  she  miorht  have  been  too  forward  in  her  ad- 
vances  at  their  last  interview,  Avis  Gurley,  this  time,  received 
him  with  a  dignity  and  maidenly  reserve,  which,  when  con- 
trasted with  her  former  sociability  and  cordiality  of  manner, 
seemed  to  him  like  studied  coolness.  This  soon  led  him,  in 
turn,  to  sue  for  favor.  And  so  earnestly  did  he  pursue  his 
object,  that,  before  he  was  aware  of  what  he  was  saying,  he  had 
revealed  the  secret  of  his  heart.  She  received  his  remarks  in 
respectful  silence,  but  gave  no  indication  by  which  he  could 
judge  whether  the  inadvertent  disclosure  was  pleasing  or  other- 
wise, except  what  might  be  gathered  from  her  increased  cor- 
diality on  other  subjects,  to  which  she  now  adroitly  turned  the 
conversation.  This  was  just  enough  to  encourage  him,  and  at 
the  same  time  leave  him  in  that  degree  of  doubt  and  suspense 
which  generally  operate  as  the  greatest  incentive  to  persevere 
in  the  pursuit  of  an  object.  It  proved  so  in  his  case ;  and,  to 
this  natural  incentive  to  persevere,  was  now  added  another, 
that  of  respect  for  her  character,  —  a  respect  which  every 
hour's  conversation  with  her  enhanced,  and  which  he  might 
accord  to  her  with  entire  justice.  Gaut  Gurley,  like  many 
other  bad  men,  ^y^s  proud  of  having  a  good  daughter.  He 
early  perceived  that  she  inherited  all  that  was  comely  and  good 
in  him,  physically  and  morally,  without  any  of  his  defects  or 
faults  of  character.  And,  desirous  so  to  rear  her  as  to  make 
the  most  of  her  natural  endowments,  and  so,  at  the  same  time, 
that  her  character  should  not  be  marred  by  his  example,  he  had 
been  at  considerable  expense  with  her  education,  and  had  even 
deported  himself  with  much  circumspection  in  her  presence. 
This,  as  will  be  readily  inferred  of  one  of  his  designing  char- 
acter, he  did  from  a  mixed  motive :  partly  from  parental  pride 
8 


86  GAUT   GURLEY. 

and  affection,  and  partly  to  make  lier,  through  some  advantage- 
ous marriage,  subservient  to  his  own  personal  interests. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  between  Claud  and  Avis,  closed  this, 
their  second  interview.  Another,  and  another,  and  yet  another, 
succeeded  at  brief  intervals.  And  so  rapid  is  the  course  of 
love,  when  springing  up  in  solitudes  like  these,  where  nothing 
occurs  to  divert  the  gathering  current,  but  every  thing  conspires 
to  increase  it,  —  where  to  our  young  devotees  all  around  them 
seemed  to  reflect  their  own  feelings,  —  where  the  seolian  music 
of  the  whispering  pines  that  embowered  their  solitary  walks 
seemed  but  to  give  voice  to  the  melody  that  filled  their  own 
hearts,  —  where  to  them  the  birds  all  sang  of  love,  —  where 
love  smiled  upon  them  in  the  pensive  beams  of  the  moon, 
glistened  in  the  stars,  and  was  stamped  on  all  the  expanse  of 
blue  sky  above,  and  on  all  the  forms  of  beauty  on  the  green 
earth  beneath,  —  so  rapid,  we  repeat,  is  the  course  of  love,  thus 
born  and  thus  fostered,  that  a  fortnight  had  scarcely  elapsed 
before  they  had  both  yielded  up  heart  and  soul  to  the  dominion 
of  the  well-named  blind  god,  and  uttered  their  mutual  vows  of 
love  and  constancy. 

This  was  the  sunshine  of  their  love ;  but  the  storms  were 
already  gathering  in  the  distance. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

"  The  sigh  that  lifts  her  breastie  comes, 
Like  sad  winds  frae  the  sea, 
Wi'  sic  a  dreary  sough,  as  wad 
Bring  tears  into  yer  e'e." 

"When  Claud  Elwoocl  reached  home,  on  the  eventful  visit  to 
the  Magallowaj  which  resulted  in  the  exchange  of  vows  be- 
tween him  and  Avis  Gurlej,  as  intimated  at  the  close  of  the 
last  chapter,  he  at  once  suspected,  from  the  sad  and  troubled 
looks  of  his  mother  and  the  disturbed  manner  of  his  father, 
that  the  secret  of  his  late  visits  abroad,  as  well  as  of  the  un- 
expected advent  of  the  family  visited,  had,  in  some  way,  become 
known  to  them  in  his  absence.  A  feeling  of  mingled  delicacy 
and  self-condemnation,  however,  prevented  him  from  making 
any  inquiries  ;  and,  with  a  commonplace  remark,  which  was 
received  in  silence,  he  took  a  seat,  and,  with  much  inward- 
trembhng,  awaited  the  expected  denouement.  But  it  did  not 
come  so  soon  nor  in  so  harsh  terms  as  he  expected.  There  are 
occasions  when  we  feel  so  deeply  that  we  are  reluctant  to  begin 
the  task  of  unburdening  our  minds  ;  and,  when  we  do  speak  out, 
it  is  oftener  in  sorrow  than  in  anger.  It  was  so  in  the  present 
instance.  Mr.  Elwood  had  that  day  been  abroad  among  the 
settlers,  and,  for  the  first  time,  learned  not  only  that  Gaut 
Gurley  had  moved  with  his  family  into  the  settlement,  but  that 
Claud  was  courting  his  daughter,  and  a  match  already  settled 
on  between  them.  On  his  return  home,  Elwood  felt  almost  as 
much  reluctance  in  making  kno"\\Ti  his  discoveries  to  his  wife  as 
Claud  had  before  him ;  for  he  well  knew  how  deeply  they 
would  disquiet  her.     But,  soon  concluding  there  would  be  no 

(87) 


88  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

wisdom  in  attempting  concealment,  lie  told  her  what  he  had 
heard.  As  he  had  anticipated,  the  news  fell  like  a  sudden 
thunderclap  on  her  heart.  She  had  experienced,  indeed, 
many  strange  misgivings  respecting  her  son's  late  mysterious 
absences ;  but  she  was  not  prepared  for  such  a  double  portion 
of  ill-omened  news  as  she  deemed  this  to  be,  and  it  struck  her 
mute  with  dismay,  for  it  at  once  brought  a  cloud  over  the 
future,  which  to  her  eye  was  dark  with  portents.  Elwood  him- 
self was  also  obviously  considerably  disquieted  by  the  news, 
showing  no  little  uneasiness  and  excitement,  —  an  excitement, 
perhaps,  resembling  that  which  is  said  to  be  manifested  by  a 
bird  in  the  presence  of  the  devouring  reptile.  He  doubtless 
would  gladly  have  been  relieved  from  any  further  connection 
with  Gaut.  He  doubtless  would  gladly  have  avoided  even  the 
slightest  renewal  of  their  former  acquaintance.  But,  for  reasons 
which  he  had  never  disclosed,  he  felt  confident  he  should  not 
long  be  suffered  to  enjoy  any  such  exemption.  And  feeling, 
for  the  same  reasons,  how  weak  he  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
that  man,  he  was  troubled,  far  more  troubled  than  he  would 
have  been  wilUng  to  own,  at  the  discoveries  of  the  day,  even  if 
that  part  of  it  relating  to  the  intimacy  of  his  son  and  Gaut's 
daughter  should  prove,  as  he  believed,  a  mere  conjecture. 

It  was  at  this  juncture,  and  before  a  word  of  comment  had 
been  offered  either  by  Mrs.  Elwood  or  her  husband  on  the 
news  he  had  related,  that  Claud  arrived  and  entered  the  room. 

"  Well,  God's  will  be  done ! "  sadly  uttered  Mrs.  Elwood, 
at  length  breaking  the  embarrassing  silence,  but  without  raising 
her  eyes  from  her  work,  which  lay  neglected  in  her  lap. 

"  What  does  mother  mean  ?  "  doubtfully  asked  Claud,  turn- 
ing to  his  father. 

"I  have  been  telling  her  some  unexpected  news,  which 
greatly  disturbs  her  mind,  —  more  than  is  necessary,  perhaps," 
replied  the  other,  with  poorly  assumed  indifference. 

"  What  news  ?  "  rejoined  the  son,  having  made  up  his  mind 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP   UMBAGOG.  89 

that,  if  his  own  secret  was  involved,  as  he  supposed,  the  long 
dreaded  eclaircissement  might  as  well  come  now  as  ever. 

"  Why,  that  Gaut  Gurley  has  moved  with  his  family  into 
the  settlement.  And  that  is  not  all ;  but  the  rest  of  it,  which 
relates  to  a  lately-formed  intimacy  between  you  and  Gaut's 
daughter,  I  presume  is  mere  guess-work." 

Mrs.  Elwood  turned  a  searching  glance  to  the  face  of  her 
son,  and  waited  to  hear  his  reply  to  the  last  remarks,  but  he 
was  silent ;  and  the  last  gleam  of  hope,  which  had  for  the 
moment  lighted  up  the  mother's  countenance,  faded  like  a 
moon-beam  on  the  edge  of  an  eclipsing  cloud ;  and,  after  a  long 
pause  and  silence  which  no  one  interrupted,  she  slowly  and 
sadly  said : 

"  When  I  consented  to  leave  the  comforts  and  social  blessings 
to  which  I  had  been  accustomed,  and  come  into  this  lone 
wilderness,  with  its  well-known  hardships  and  privations,  my 
great  and  indeed  only  motive  was,  to  see  my  family  placed 
beyond  the  temptations  of  the  city,  and  especially  beyond  the 
fatal,  and  to  me  always  mysterious,  influence  of  that  wicked 
and  dangerous  man,  Gaut  Gurley.  And  with  this  object  I 
came  cheerfully,  gladly.  And  when  I  reached  this  place, 
fondly  hoping  and  believing  we  had  escaped  that  man,  and 
were  forever  secure  from  his  wiles,  I  became  happy, —  happier 
than  since  I  left  my  native  hills  in  New-Hampshire.  It  soon 
became  to  mc,  lone  and  dreary  as  it  might  appear  to  others, — 
it  soon  became  to  me,  in  my  fancied  security  from  the  evils  we 
had  fled,  a  second  Paradise.  But  to  me  it  is  a  Paradise  no 
longer ;  the  Serpent  has  found  his  way  into  our  Eden ;  and, 
not  content  with  having  beguiled  and  ruined  one,  must  now 
have  the  other  so  entangled  in  the  toils  that  both  will  be  kept 
in  his  power." 

"  You  are  going  a  great  ways  to  borrow  trouble,  it  appears  to 
me,  Alice,"  remarked  Elwood,  after  a  pause. 

"  It  certainly  seems  so  to  me,  also,  mother,"  said  Claud.  "  You 
cannot  know  but  Gurley  comes  here  with  as  honest  purposes 
8* 


90 

as  father.  But,  were  it  otherwise,  the  daughter  should  not  be 
held  responsible  for  the  faults  of  the  father,  nor,  without  good 
reason,  be  accused  of  favoring  any  sinister  designs  he  may 
entertain." 

"  Claud  takes  a  just  view  of  the  case,  on  both  points,  I  pre- 
sume," rejoined  Mr.  Elwood.  "  As  to  Gurley,  I  know  not 
how,  or  why,  he  came  here ;  nor  do  I  wish  or  expect  to  have 
any  thing  to  do  with  him.  And  as  to  Claud,  I  trust  he  knows 
enough  to  take  care  of  himself." 

"  You  have  both  evaded  the  spirit  of  my  remarks,"  responded 
Mrs.  Elwood.  "When  I  speak  of  Gaut  Gurley's  motives 
and  designs,  you  must  know  I  judge  from  his  past  conduct. 
Have  either  of  you  as  safe  grounds  of  judging  him  ?  And 
when  I  allude  to  his  daughter,  I  do  so  with  no  thought  of  hold- 
ing her  amenable  for  the  faults  of  her  father,  or  even  of  as- 
suming the  ground  that  she  has  inherited  any  of  his  objection- 
able traits  of  character.  I  intend  nothing  of  the  kind,  for  I 
know  nothing  of  her.  But  I  do  say,  that,  whenever  she  mar- 
ries, she  becomes  the  connecting  link  between  her  husband  and 
her  father,  the  chain  extending  both  ways,  so  as  to  bind  their 
respective  families  together,  and  give  one  the  power  and  means 
of  evil  which  could  m  no  other  way  be  obtained.  In  view  of 
all  these  circumstances,  then,  I  feel  that  a  calamity  is  in  store 
for  us.  God  grant  that  my  fears  and  forebodings  may  prove 
groundless." 

The  husband  and  son  were  saved  the  difficult  and  embar- 
rassing task  of  replying,  by  the  arrival  of  Philips,  who,  in 
his  free  and  easy  manner,  entired  and  took  a  seat  with  the 
family. 

"  I  came,  gentlefolks,"  said  the  hunter,  after  a  few  common- 
place remarks  had  been  exchanged,  —  "I  came  to  see  if  you 
know  what  a  '  bee '  means  ?  " 

"A  bee?  what,  honey-bees?"  asked  Mr.  Elwood,  in  sur- 
prise at  the  oddness  of  the  question. 

"No,  not  a  honey-bee,  exactly,  or  a  humble-bee,  but  a  sort  of 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  91 

■work-meeting  of  men  or  women,  to  Iielp  a  neighbor  to  husk  his 
corn,  for  instance,  build  him  a  log  house,  or  do  off  some  other  job 
for  him  in  a  day,  which  alone  would  take  him  perhaps  weeks. 
These  turn-outs  we  new  settlers  call  '  bees.'  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  for  a  man  to  get  up  a  bee  to  knock  off  at  once  a 
pressing  job  he  wants  done.  And,  when  a  new-comer  appears 
to  be  delicate  about  moving  in  the  matter,  the  neighbors  some- 
times volunteer,  and  get  up  a  bee  for  him,  among  themselves." 

"  I  may  have  heard  of  the  custom ;  but  why  do  you  say  you 
came  to  ask  me  if  I  know  any  thing  about  it  ? " 

"  Well,  I  kinder  thought  I  would.  You  have  a  pretty  stiff- 
looking  burnt  piece  here  to  be  logged  off  soon,  have  you  not  ?  " 

"Why,  yes." 

"  And  it  would  be  a  hard  and  heavy  month's  job  for  you 
and  the  young  man  to  do  it,  would  it  not  ?  " 

"  The  best  part  of  a  month,  perhaps ;  but  I  was  intending  to 
go  at  it  in  season,  that  we  might  get  it  all  cleared  and  sown 
by  the  middle  of  September;  which  must  be  done,  if  I  join  you 
and  the  rest  of  the  usual  company  in  the  fall  trapping  and 
hunting  expedition." 

"  Of  course  you  will  join  us.  It  is  our  main  and  almost  only 
chance  here  of  getting  any  money." 

"  So  I  have  always  understood,  and  therefore  made  up  my 
mind  to  go  into  it,  if  I  can  get  ready.  I  have  been  down  the 
river  to-day  and  engaged  my  seed  wheat.  To-morrow  I 
thought  of  going  abroad  again,  to  try  to  engage  some  help  for 
clearing  the  piece." 

"  Well,  you  need  not  go  a  rod  for  that  purpose." 

"Why  not?" 

"  Because  we  have  got  up  a  bee  for  you  in  the  settlement, 
large  enough,  we  think,  to  log  off  your  whole  piece  in  a  day." 

"Indeed!  Who  has  been  so  kind  as  to  start  such  a  pro- 
ject?" 

"  Several  of  us :  Codman,  that  you  may  have  seen,  or  at 
least  heard  of,  as  the  best  trapper  in  the  settlement,  took  upon 


92  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

himself  to  enlist  those  round  the  southerly  end  of  the  lake, 
where  he  lives ;  and  I  have  arranged  matters  a  little  in  this 
section  and  on  the  river  below.  But,  in  justice,  I  should  name, 
as  the  man  who  has  taken  the  most  interest  in  the  movement, 
the  new  settler  who  has  this  summer  come  into  the  parts,  and 
made  his  pitch  over  on  the  Magalloway.    His  name  is  Gurley." 

A  dead  silence  of  several  minutes  ensued,  during  which  Mrs. 
Elwood  looked  sadly  and  meaningly  from  the  husband  to  the 
son,  both  of  whose  countenances  seemed  to  fall  and  shrink  be- 
fore her  significant  glances. 

"  Well,"  at  length  resumed  the  hunter,  perceiving  no  re- 
sponse was  to  be  made  to  his  last  remark,  "seeing  we  had 
got  all  arranged  and  ready,  I  came  to  notify  you,  so  that  you 
should  not  be  taken  by  surprise.  We  propose  to  be  on  the 
ground,  men  and  oxen,  early  day  after  to-morrow.  There  will 
be  fifteen  or  twenty  of  us,  perhaps,  with  five  or  six  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  like  enough  a  stiff  horse  or  two." 

"  But  how  can  I  provision  such  a  company  on  so  short 
notice  ?  " 

"  No  trouble  about  that.     You  have  salt  pork  ?  " 

"  A  good  supply." 

"  Corn  meal  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  and  wheat  flour,  with  fine  new  potatoes." 

"  All  right.  I  will  take  care  of  the  rest.  I  will  take  the  young 
man,  here,  into  my  largest  canoe,  to-morrow  morning,  if  he  be  so 
disposed,  and  we  will  go  up  the  lake,  perhaps  into  the  upper  lake, 
and  it  will  be  a  strange  case  if  we  don't  return  at  night  with  fish, 
and  I  think  flesh,  enough  to  victual  the  company ;  and,  in  the 
mean  time,  my  women  will  come  up  and  be  on  hand  to-morrow 
and  next  day,  to  help  Mrs.  Elwood  do  the  baking  and  cooking." 

The  friendly  movement  of  the  neighbors,  thus  announced, 
was  not,  of  course,  to  be  opposed  or  questioned  by  those  for 
whose  benefit  it  was  intended,  any  further  than  Mr.  Elwood 
had  done  in  relation  to  his  ability  to  entertain  the  company  so 
well  as  their  kindness   deserved.     Mr.  Elwood  and  his  son, 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  93 

indeed,  who  had  been  dreading  the  hard  job  of  clearing  off 
their  land,  were  greatly  gratified  at  the  unexpected  kindness. 
And  even  Mrs.  Elwood,  pained  and  annoyed  as  she  was  by 
the  part  taken  by  Gaut  Gurley,  whose  only  motive  she  beheved 
was  to  gain  some  advantage  for  meditated  evil,  entered  cheer- 
fully into  the  affair,  and  joined  her  husband  in  handsome  ex- 
pressions of  acknowledgment  to  the  hunter,  and  assurances  of 
doing  their  best  to  provide  properly  for  the  company.  The 
matter  was  therefore  considered  as  settled;  and  the  hunter 
departed,  to  call,  as  he  had  proposed,  early  the  next  morning 
for  Claud,  for  an  excursion  up  the  lake,  to  procure  fresh  provis- 
sions  for  the  coming  occasion. 

The  family  were  early  astir  the  next  morning,  intent  on  their 
respective  duties  in  preparation  for  the  appointed  logging  bee. 
They  had  scarcely  dispatched  their  breakfast,  before  the. hunter, 
as  he  had  promised,  called  for  Claud ;  when  the  two  departed 
together,  with  their  guns  and  fishing  gear,  for  the  lake,  whither 
we  propose  to  accompany  them. 

"  Well,  now,  let  us  settle  the  order  of  the  day,"  said  Phillips, 
after  they  had  reached  the  landing  and  deposited  their  luggage 
in  the  canoe  selected  for  the  purpose. 

"  I  am  a  companion  of  the  voyage,  to-day,  and,  as  you  know, 
but  a  learner  in  these  sports,"  responded  Claud.  "  You  have 
but  to  name  your  plan." 

"  Well,  my  plan  is  this :  to  steer  across  and  get  up  the  lake 
to  the  inlet  and  rapids  which  connect  this  to  the  next  upper 
lake,  called  by  the  Indians  the  Molechunk-a-munk  ;  up  these 
rapids  into  that  lake,  where  we  will  take  a  row  of  a  few  hours, 
and  home  again  by  nightfall.  In  these  rapids,  going  or  return- 
ing, we  may  safely  count,  at  this  season,  on  a  plenty  of  trout ; 
and,  on  the  borders  of  the  lake  beyond,  I  know  of  several 
favorite  haunts  of  the  deer,  one  of  which  I  propose  to  take  into 
the  canoe  as  ballast  to  steady  it  for  running  the  rapids,  on  our 
way  back." 

"  What  is  the  whole  distance  ? " 


94  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

"  Four  or  five  miles  of  this  lake,  as  many  of  the  river  or 
rapids,  and  as  far  into  the  upper  lake  as  we  please." 

"  You  are  laying  out  largely  for  one  day,  are  you  not  ?  " 

"  No,  'tis  nothing.  You  see,  I  have  brought  round  for  our 
use  my  best  birch  bark  canoe.  I  have  rowed  her  fifty  miles  a 
day  round  the  lakes  many  a  time.  "We  shall  bound  over  the 
lake  in  almost  no  time,  and  the  rapids,  which  are  the  only  draw- 
back, can  soon  be  surmounted,  by  oar  or  setting-pole,  or,  what 
may  be  cheapest,  carrying  the  canoe  round  those  most  difficult 
of  passage.  The  boat  does  not  weigh  an  hundred.  I  could 
travel  with  it  a  mile  on  my  head,  as  fast  as  you  would  wish  to 
walk  without  a  pound  of  luggage.  So,  in  with  you,  and  I'll 
show  you  how  it  is  done." 

•Accordingly  they  launched  forth  in  their  primitive  craft, 
which,  as  before  intimated,  was  the  once  noted  birch  bark  canoe 
built  by  the  hunter  agreeably  to  the  exact  rules  of  Indian  art. 
Few,  who  have  never  seen  and  observed  the  process  of  con- 
structing this  canoe,  which,  for  thousands  of  years  before  the 
advent  of  the  white  man,  was  the  only  craft  used  by  the  abo- 
rigines in  navigating  the  interior  waters,  have  any  idea  how, 
from  such  seemingly  fragile  materials,  and  with  no  other  tools 
than  a  hatchet,  knife,  and  perhaps  a  bone  needle,  the  Indian 
can  construct  a  canoe  so  extremely  light  and  at  the  same  time 
so  tough  and  durable.  In  building  his  canoe,  which  is  one  of 
the  greatest  efforts  of  his  mechanical  skill,  the  Indian  goes  to 
work  systematically.  He  first  peels  his  bark  from  a  middle- 
sized  birch  tree,  and  cuts  it  in  strips  five  or  six  inches  wide, 
and  twelve,  fifteen,  or  twenty  feet  long,  according  .to  the  length 
and  size  of  the  designed  canoe.  He  then  dries  them  thoroughly 
in  the  sun,  after  which  he  nicely  scrapes  and  smooths  off"  the 
outside.  He  next  proceeds  to  soak  these  strips,  which  are  thus 
made  to  go  through  a  sort  of  tanning  process,  to  render  them 
tough  and  pliable,  as  well  as  to  obviate  their  liabihty  to  crack 
by  exposure  to  the  sun.  After  the  materials  are  thus  prepared, 
he  smooths  off"  a  level  piece  of  ground,  and  drives  around  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  95 

outside  a  line  of  strong  stakes,  so  that  the  space  within  shall 
describe  the  exact  form  of  the  boat  in  contemplation.  Inside 
of  these  stakes  he  places  and  braces  up  the  wet  and  pliable 
pieces  of  bark,  beginning  at  the  bottom  and  building  up  and 
bending  into  form  the  sides  and  ends,  till  the  structure  has  at- 
tained the  required  height.  In  this  situation  it  is  left  till  it  is 
again  thoroughly  dried  and  all  the  pieces  become  fixed  in  shape. 
A  light  inside  framework  is  then  constructed,  resembling  the 
skeleton  of  a  fish,  and  of  dimensions  to  fit  the  canoe  already 
put  in  form  in  the  manner  we  have  described.  The  pieces  of 
cured  material  are  then  numbered  and  taken  down  ;  when  the 
architect,  beginning  at  the  bottom,  lapping  and  sewing  together 
the  different  pieces,  proceeds  patiently  in  his  work,  till  the 
sides  are  built,  the  ends  closed  nicely  up,  and  each  piece  lashed 
firmly  to  the  framework,  which,  though  of  surprising  lightness, 
is  made  to  serve  as  keel,  knees,  and  ribs  of  the  boat.  Every 
seam  and  crevice  is  then  filled  with  melted  pitch.  The  Indian 
then  has  his  canoe  fit  for  use ;  and  he  may  well  boast  of  a 
boat,  which,  for  combined  strength  and  lightness,  and  especially 
for  capacity  of  burden,  no  art  of  the  shipbuilder  has  ever  been 
able  to  surpass,  and  which,  if  it  has  not  already,  might  serve 
for  a  model  of  the  best  lifeboat  ever  constructed,  in  these  days 
of  boasted  perfection  in  marine  arts  and  improvements. 

Bounding  over  the  smooth  waters  like  a  seabird  half  on 
wing,  our  voyagers  soon  found  themselves  on  the  northerly 
side  of  the  lake ;  when,  rounding  a  point,  they  began  to  skirt 
the  easterly  shore  of  the  bay  that  makes  up  to  the  inlet,  at  a 
more  leisurely  pace,  for  the  purpose  of  being  on  the  lookout 
for  deer,  which  might  be  standing  in  the  edge  of  the  water 
round  the  coves,  to  cool  themselves  and  keep  off  the  flies.  Not 
seeing  any  signs  of  game,  however,  they  steered  out  so  as  to 
clear  the  various  little  capes  or  woody  points  of  land  inclosing 
the  numerous  coves  scattered  along  the  indented  shore,  and 
struck  a  line  for  the  great  inlet  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  which 
they  now  soon  reached,  and  commenced  rowing  against  the 


96  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

at  first  gentle  and  then  rapid  current,  wliicli  here  pours  down 
from  the  upper  lakes,  through  the  rocky  and  picturesque  defiles? 
in  the  form  of  a  magnificent  river,  rivalling  in  its  size  the 
midway  portions  of  the  Connecticut  or  Hudson. 

"  Now,  young  man,"  said  the  hunter,  laying  aside  his  paddle 
and  taking  up  the  strong,  elastic  setting-pole  he  had  provided 
for  the  occasion,  "  now  you  must  look  out  for  your  balance. 
The  river,  to  be  sure,  is  quite  low,  and  the  current,  of  course, 
at  its  feeblest  point ;  but  we  shall  find  places  enough  within 
the  next  mile  where  the  canoe,  to  go  up  at  all,  must  go  up  like 
the  jump  of  a  catamount.  So,  down  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
on  your  braced  knees,  with  your  haunches  on  your  heels,  and 
leave  all  to  me." 

"  What !  do  you  expect  to  force  the  canoe  up  rapids  like 
these  ?  "  asked  Claud,  in  surprise,  as  he  cast  his  eye  over  the 
long  reach  of  eddying,  tumbling  waters,  that  looked  like  a  les- 
sening sheet  of  foam  as  it  lay  stretched  upward  in  the  distant 
perspective. 

"  I  expect  to  try,"  coolly  replied  the  hunter ;  "  and,  if  you 
lay  asleep  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,  I  should  expect  to  suc- 
ceed. And,  as  it  is,  if  you  can  keep  cool  and  obey  orders,  we 
will  see  what  can  be  done." 

Claud  implicitly  obeyed  the  directions  of  the  hunter,  without 
much  faith,  however,  in  the  success  of  his  bold  attempt.  But 
he  soon  perceived  he  had  underrated  the  skill  and  strength  of 
arm  which  had  been  relied  on  to  accomplish'  the  seemingly 
impossible  feat.  Standing  upright  and  slightly  bracing  in  the 
bottom  of  his  canoe,  the  hunter  first  marked  out  with  his  eye 
his  course  through  a  given  reach  of  the  rock-broken  and  foam- 
ing waters  above ;  then,  nicely  calculating  the  resisting  force 
of  each  rapid  to  be  overcome,  and  the  required  impetus,  and 
the  direction  to  be  given  to  his  canoe  to  effect  it,  he  sharply  bid 
Claud  be  on  his  guard,  and  sent  the  light  craft  like  an  arrow 
into  the  boiling  eddies  before  him.  And  now,  by  sudden  and 
powerful  shoves,  he  was  seen  shooting  obliquely  up  one  rapid; 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  97 

tacking  with  the  quickness  of  light,  and  darting  off  zigzag 
among  the  rocks  and  eddies  towards  another,  which  was  in  turn 
surmounted ;  wliile  the  boat  was  forced,  surging  and  bounding 
forward,  with  increasing  impetus,  now  up  and  now  athwart  the 
rushing  currents,  till  he  had  gained  a  resting-place  in  the  still 
water  of  some  sheltering  boulder  in  the  stream,  when  he  would 
mark  off,  with  a  rapid  glance,  another  reach  of  falls,  and  shoot 
in  among  them  as  before.  Thus,  with  the  quick  tacks  and 
turns  and  sudden  leaps  of  the  ascending  salmon,  and  almost 
with  the  celerity,  he  made  his  way  up  the  long  succession  of 
rapids,  until  the  last  of  the  series  was  overcome,  and  he  found 
himself  safely  emerging  into  the  smooth  waters  of  the  beautiful 
lakelet  or  jDond  which  divides,  in  the  upper  portion  of  its 
course,  this  remarkable  stream.  Another  row  of  a  mile  or  so 
now  brought  the  voyagers  where  the  water  again  took  the  form 
of  a  swift  river,  tumbling  and  foaming  over  the  rocks,  in  the 
last  series  of  rapids  to  be  overcome.  These  also  were  sur- 
mounted in  the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  success  as  the 
former. 

But  this  part  of  the  voyage  was  marked  with  an  unexpected 
adventure,  and  one  which  seemed  destined  to  lead  to  the  opera- 
tion of  new  and  singular  moral  agencies,  both  in  the  near  and 
more  distant  future,  having  an  important  bearing  on  the  fate 
and  fortunes  of  young  Elwood.  They  had  reached  the  last 
and  most  difficult  of  all  the  rapids  yet  encountered,  and  were 
resting,  preparatory  to  the  anticipated  struggle,  in  a  smooth 
piece  of  water  under  the  lee  of  a  huge  rock,  on  either  side  of 
which  the  divided  stream  rushed  in  two  foam-covered  torrents, 
with  the  force  and  swiftness  of  a  mill-race  ;  when  they  were 
startled  by  the  shrill  exclamations  of  a  female  voice,  in  tones 
indicative  of  surprise  and  alarm.  The  sounds,  which  came 
from  some  unseen  point  not  far  above  them  in  the  stream, 
were  evidently  drawing  near  at  a  rapid  rate.  Presently  a 
small  Indian  canoe,  with  a  single  female  occupant,  whose  youth 
and  beauty,  even  in  the  distance,  were  apparent,  shot  swiftly 

9 


98 

into  view,  and  came  tossing  and  whirling  down  the  stream,  un- 
guided,  and  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  the  crooked  and  raging 
currents  along  which  it  was  borne  with  the  speed  of  the  wind. 
The  imperilled  maiden  uttered  a  cry  of  joy  at  the  appearance 
of  our  voyagers,  and  held  up  the  handle  of  a  broken  oar,  to 
indicate  to  them  at  once  the  cause  of  her  fearful  dilemma  and 
need  of  assistance. 

"  I  will  throw  her  one  of  our  paddles,  and  she  will  best  take 
care  of  herself,"  hurriedly  exclaimed  the  hunter,  seizing  the 
implement,  and  awaiting  her  nearest  approach  to  throw  it 
within  her  reach. 

The  critical  point  was  the  next  instant  reached,  but  the 
hunter,  in  his  nervous  anxiety  and  haste,  made  his  throw  a  little 
too  soon  and  with  too  much  force.  The  paddle  struck  directly 
under  the  prow  of  the  canoe,  and  shot  beyond,  far  out  of 
reach  of  the  expectant  maiden's  extended  hands.  Another 
oar  was  hurled  after  her,  with  no  better  effect ;  when,  for  the 
first  time,  a  shade  of  despair  passed  over  her  agitated  counte- 
nance ;  for  she  saw  herself  rapidly  drifting  directly  into  the  jaws 
of  a  wild  and  fearful  labyrinth  of  breakers  not  fifty  yards  below, 
where,  in  all  probability,  her  fragile  canoe  would  be  dashed  to 
pieces,  and  herself  thrown  against  the  slippery  and  jagged 
rock,  drawn  down,  and  lost.  Claud,  who  had  witnessed,  with 
trembling  anxiety,  the  hunter's  vain  attempts  to  place  the  means 
of  self-preservation  in  the  hands  of  the  maiden,  and  who  now 
perceived,  in  their  full  light,  the  perils  of  the  path  to  which  she 
was  helplessly  hastening,  could  restrain  his  generous  impulses 
no  longer ;  and,  quickly  throwing  off  his  hat  and  coat,  he  leaped 
overboard,  dashed  headlong  into  the  current,  and  struck  boldly 
down  it  to  overtake  the  receding  canoe. 

"  Hold  !  madness !  They  will  both  perish  together  !  " 
rapidly  exclaimed  the  hunter,  surprised  and  alarmed  at  the  rash 
attempt  of  his  young  companion.  "  But  I  will  share  in  their 
dangers,  —  perhaps  save  them,  yet." 

Accordingly  he  hastily  headed  round  his  canoe,  and,  haz- 


THE  TRAPPERS   OP  UMBAGOG.  99 

ardous  as  he  knew  must  be  the  experiment,  sent  it  surging 
down  the  current  after  his  endangered  young  friends ;  for  the 
one,  as  will  soon  appear,  was  no  less  his  favorite  than  the 
other.  In  the  mean  time,  Claud,  in  swimming  over  a  sunken 
rock,  luckily  gained  a  foothold,  which  enabled  him  to  rise  and 
plunge  forward  again  with  redoubled  speed ;  and,  so  well-timed 
and  powerful  were  his  exertions,  that  he  came  within  reach  of 
the  stern  of  the  fugitive  canoe  just  as  it  was  whirling  round 
sideways  in  the  reflux  of  the  waves  caused  by  the  water  dash- 
ing against  a  high  rock  standing  partly  in  the  current.  It  was 
a  moment  of  life  or  death,  both  to  the  man  and  maiden ;  for 
the  boat  was  on  the  point  of  going  broadside  over  the  first  fall 
into  the  wild  and  seething  waters,  seen  leaping  and  roaring  in 
whirlpools  and  jets  of  foam  among  the  intricate  passes  of  the 
ragged  rocks  below.  Making  sure  of  his  grasp  on  the  end  of 
the  canoe  that  had  been  thus  fortunately  thrown  within  his 
reach,  the  struggling  Claud  made  an  effort  to  draw  it  from  the 
edge  of  the  abyss  into  which  it  was  about  to  be  precipitated  ; 
but,  with  his  most  desperate  exertions,  he  was  barely  enabled 
to  keep  it  in  position,  while  his  strength  was  rapidly  giving 
way.  The  unequal  contest  was  quickly  noticed  by  the  hapless 
girl ;  and,  after  watching  a  moment,  with  a  troubled  eye,  the 
fruitless  efforts  and  wasting  strength  of  the  young  man,  she 
calmly  rose  to  her  feet,  exhibiting,  as  she  stood  upright  in  the 
boat,  with  the  spray  dashing  over  her  marble  forehead  and 
long  flowing  hair,  in  the  faultless  symmetry  of  her  person,  the 
beautiful  cast  of  her  features,  and  the  touching  eloquence  of 
her  speaking  countenance,  a  figure  which  might  well  serve  as  a 
subject  for  the  pencil  of  the  artist. 

"  Let  go,  brave  stranger,"  she  cried,  in  clear,  silvery  tones, 
after  throwing  a  grateful  and  admiring  glance  down  upon  her 
gallant  rescuer ;  "  let  me  go,  and  save  yourself.  I  can  die  as 
befits  a  daughter  of  my  people." 

"  Hold  on,  there,  Claud !  Courage,  girl !  I  sec  a  way  to 
save  you  both,"  at  that  critical  instant  rang  above  the  roar  of 


100  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

the  waters  the  sharp  voice  of  the  hunter,  who,  with  wonderful 
tact  and  celerity,  had  shot  down  obliquely  across  the  main 
current,  out  of  it  through  a  narrow  side  pass,  down  that  and 
round  the  intervening  rocks,  and  was  now  driving  with  main 
strength  up  another  pass,  abreast  of  the  objects  of  his  anxiety. 
"  There :  now  seize  the  head  of  my  canoe,  and  hold  on  to  both ; 
and,  on  your  life,  be  quick ! "  he  continued,  shouting  to  the  ex- 
hausted young  man,  while  he  himself  was  struggling  with  all 
his  might  to  get  and  keep  his  boat  in  the  right  position  among 
the  battling  currents. 

'After  one  or  two  ineffectual  attempts,  Claud,  with  a  last  des- 
perate effort,  fortunately  succeeded  in  securing  his  grasp  on  the 
hunter's  boat,  without  losing  his  hold  on  the  other ;  when,  with 
one  mighty  effort  of  the  latter,  they  were  all  drawn  out  of  the 
vortex  together,  and  soon  brought  safely  to  shore. 

"  Fluella,  my  fair  young  friend,"  said  the  hunter,  taking  a 
long  breath,  and  respectfully  turning  to  the  rescued  girl,  as 
the  party  stepped  on  to  the  dry  beach,  "  I  have  not  often  —  no, 
never  —  felt  more  rejoiced  than  now,  in  seeing  you  stand  here  in 
safety." 

"I  know  the  danger  I  have  been  in,"  responded  the  maiden, 
feelingly.  "  O  yes,  know  to  remember,  and  know  to  remember, 
also,  those  who  made  my  escape.  Mr.  Phillips,  I  am  grateful 
much." 

"  Don't  thank  me,"  promptly  replied  the  hunter.  "  I  am 
ashamed  not  to  have  been  the  first  in  the  rescue,  when  the 
chief's  daughter  was  in  danger." 

"  But,  Mr.  Phillips,"  rejoined  the  other,  with  an  expressive 
smile,  "  you  have  not  told  me  who  this  stranger  is,  who  seemed 
to  measure  the  value  of  his  own  life  by  such  a  worthless  thing 
as  mine." 

"  True,  no,"  returned  the  hunter ;  "  but  this  gentleman,  Flu- 
ella, is  young  Mr.  Claud  El  wood,  who,  with  his  father  and 
mother,  has  recently  moved  into  the  settlement ;  and  they  are 
now  my  nearest  neighbors,  at  the  foot  of  the  lower  lake.     And 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  101 

to  you,  Claud,  I  have  to  say,  that  this  young  lady  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  Weuongonet,  the  red  chief,  the  original'  lord  of  these 
lakes,  and  still  liviiig  on  the  one  next  above." 

Both  the  maiden  and  her  gallant  young  preserver  seemed 
equally  surprised,  at  the  announcement  of  each  others'  name  and 
character:  the  former,  because  it  suggested  questions  in  the 
solution  of  which  she  felt  an  interest,  but  which,  with  the  char- 
acteristic prudence  of  her  race,  she  forbore  to  ask  ;  and  the  lat- 
ter, because  he  found  it  hard  to  realize  that  the  fair-complexioned 
and  every  way  beautiful  girl,  who  stood  before  him,  readily  speak- 
ing his  own  language,  and  neatly  and  even  richly  arrayed  in  the 
usual  female  habihments  of  the  day,  with  the  single  exception 
of  the  gay,  beaded  moccasins,  that  enveloped  her  small  feet  and 
ankles,  —  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  realize  that  one  of  such 
an  exterior,  and  of  so  much  evident  culture,  could  possibly  have 
descended  from  the  tawny  and  uncultivated  sons  of  the  forest. 

"You  two  should  hereafter  be  friends,  should  you  not?" 
observed  the  hunter,  perceiving  their  mutual  restraint,  of  which 
he  wished  to  relieve  them. 

Eousing  himself,  with  a  prompt  affirmative  reply  to  the  ques- 
tion, Claud  gallantly  advanced,  and  extended  his  hand  to  his 
fair  companion,  who,  with  evident  emotion,  and  a  slight  suffu- 
sion of  the  cheek,  gave  him  her  own  in  return,  as  she  said : 

"  O  yes.  Mr.  Philhps'  friend  is  my  friend,  and,  I  —  I  — 
■why,  I  can't  thank  him  now  ;  the  words  don't  come ;  the  thanks 
remain  unshaped  in  my  heart." 

"  Excuse  me,"  replied  Claud,  "  excuse  me  if  I  say,  IMiss 
Fluella,  as  Mr.  Phillips  calls  you,  that  you  have  already  ex- 
pressed, and  in  the  finest  terms,  far  more  than  I  am  entitled  to ; 
so  let  that  pass,  and  tell  us  how  your  mishap  occurred  ?" 

"  O,  naturally  enough,  though  rather  stupidly,"  responded 
the  other,  regaining  her  ease  and  usually  animated  manner. 
"You  must  know  that  I  sometimes  play  the  Indian  girl,  in 
doing. my  father's  trouting.  And,  having  rowed  down  to  the 
rapids  this  morning  for  that  purpose,  I  ran  my  canoe  on  to  a 
9* 


rock,  up  here  at  the  head  of  the  fails,  and  threw  into  an  eddy 
below,  till  I  had  taken  a  supply.  But,  like  other  folks,  I  must 
have  the  one  more,  —  a  large  one  I  had  seen  playing  round  my 
hook  ;  and,  in  my  eagerness  to  take  him,  I  did  not  notice  that  my 
canoe  had  slipped  off  the  rock  till  I  found  it  drifting  down  the 
current.  I  seized  my  oar,  but,  with  the  first  blow  in  the  water 
it  snapt  in  my  hands.  You  know  the  rest,  unless,  perhaps,  the 
number  of  fish  I  caught,"  she  added,  pointing  to  a  string  of  fine 
trout  still  lying  safely  in  the  bottom  of  her  canoe. 

"  Brave  girl ! "  exclaimed  the  hunter,  going  up  to  the  boat 
with  Claud,  to  inspect  the  fish,  which  they  had  not  before  no- 
ticed. "  A  good  ten  pounds,  and  fine  ones,  too.  Claud  shall 
remain  here  while  I  go  a  piece  up  the  lake  for  a  deer,  and  fol- 
low your  example,  except  the  race  down  the  rapids ;  but  that 
he  can't  do,  for  I  shall  take  our  canoe  with  me,  and  make  him 
fish  from  the  shore,  which  will  be  just  as  well.  Are  you  agreed 
to  that  arrangement,  young  man  ?  " 

This  proposition  being  accepted,  and  it  being  also  settled  by 
common  consent  that  no  further  attempt  should,  at  this  time,  be 
made  to  ascend  the  remaining  rapids  with  either  of  the  boats 
the  hunter  and  Claud,  accompanied  by  the  light-footed  Fluella, 
took  up  her  canoe  and  set  off  with  it,  along  shore,  towards  a 
convenient  landmg  in  the  lake  above,  then  not  more  than  sixty 
or  seventy  rods  distant.  In  a  short  time  the  proposed  landing 
was  reached,  and  the  boat  let  down  into  the  water.  The 
maiden,  with  an  easy  and  sprightly  movement,  then  flung  her- 
self into  her  seat,  and,  with  a  paddle  hastily  whittled  for  her  out 
of  a  piece  of  drift-wood,  by  the  ever  ready  hunter,  sent  her  little 
craft  in  a  curving  sweep  into  the  lake ;  when,  facing  round  to 
her  preservers,  while  a  sweet  and  grateful  smile  broke  over  her 
dimpling  features,  she  bade  and  bowed  them  adieu,  and  went 
bounding  over  the  undulating  waves  towards  her  home,  on  an 
island  some  miles  distant,  near  the  southeastern  border  of  this 
romantic  sheet  of  water. 

"  Can  it  be,"  half-soliloquized  Claud,  as  he  stood  rivetting  his 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  103 

wondering  gaze  on  the  beauteous  figure,  which,  gracefully  bow- 
ing with  the  lightly-dipping  oar,  was  receding  from  his  rapt 
view,  and  gradually  melting  away  in  the  distance  ;  "  can  it  be 
that  she  is  but  a  mere  Indian  girl,  one  of  those  wild,  untutored 
chilcTren  of  the  forest  ?" 

"  It  is  even  so,  young  man,"  responded  the  hunter,  rousing 
himself  from  the  reverie  into  which  he  also  seemed  to  have 
fallen  at  the  departure  of  his  fair  favorite  ;  "  it  is  even  so ;  but, 
for  all  that,  tlie  very  flower  of  all  the  womankind,  white  or  red, 
according  to  my  ideas,  that  ever  graced  the  borders  of  these 
lakes." 

"  But  how  came  she  by  those  neatly-turned  English  features, 
and  that  clear,  white  complexion  ?" 

"  Why,  her  mother,  who  is  now  dead,  was  an  uncommon 
handsome  woman  for  a  squaw,  and  had,  as  I  perhaps  should 
have  qualified  when  I  answered  so  about  this  girl,  some  white 
blood  in  her  veins  ;  or  rather  had,  as  the  old  chief  once  told  me, 
somewhere  away  back  among  the  gone-by  generations,  a  female 
ancestor,  a  pure  white  woman,  who  was  made  captive  by  the 
Indians,  and  married  into  their  tribe,  and  who  was  as  handsome 
as  a  picture.  But  the  white  blood  seemed  to  have  been  pretty 
much  lost  among  the  descendants,  till  the  appearance  of  this 
nonsuch  of  a  girl,  in  whom  ^very  drop  of  it  seemed  to  have  again 
been  collected." 

"  Some  might,  perhaps,  draw  different  conclusions  in  the 
case." 

"  Yes,  and  draw  them  very  wrongfully,  too,  as  I  have  no 
doubt  many  people  do  in  such  cases  ;  for  I  have  often  noticed 
it  among  families,  and  ascertained  it  as  a  fact,  that  where  a 
person  of  particular  looks  and  character  once  lived,  his  or  her 
like,  though  not  coming  out  visibly  in  any  of  the  descendants  for 
a  long  time,  is  sure  sooner  or  later  to  appear,  and  so  will  fre- 
quently leap  out  in  a  child  four  or  five  generations  off;  a  com- 
plete copy,  in  looks,  blood,  and  character,  of  the  original  (as  far 
as  can  be  judged  from  family  tradition),  who  may  have  been 


104:  GAUT   GURLEY  ]    OR, 

dead  an  hundred  years.  This  is  my  notion ;  and  I  hold  that 
every  person  is  destined  to  be  at  least  once  reproduced  among 
some  of  his  descendants.  I,  or  the  exact  like  of  me,  will 
likely  enough  be  seen  in  some  of  my  blood  descendants,  fifty  or 
an  hundred  years  hence,  building  dams  or  mills  on  these  very 
falls,  or  even  riding  in  a  carriage  around  these  wild  lakes,  where 
I  have  spent  nearly  my  whole  life  in  hunting  moose,  and  the 
other  wild  animals  known  only  in  the  unbroken  forest." 

"  Your  theory  may  be  true,  but  it  does  not  quite  account,  I 
think,  for  the  evident  intelligence  and  culture  of  this  remarkable 
girl.  To  appear  and  converse  as  she  does,  she  must  have  seen 
considerable  of  good  society  out  of  the  forest,  and,  I  should 
think,  schools." 

"  She  has,  both.  Her  father,  one  fall,  when  she  was  a  girl  of 
ten  or  eleven,  took  her  along  with  him  to  a  city  on  the  coast, 
where  he  went  to  sell  his  furs  and  nice  basket-work,  and  where 
she,  some  how,  excited  the  lively  interest  of  a  good  family,  and 
particularly  of  a  wealthy  gentleman  then  living  in  the  family. 
Well,  the  short  of  the  matter  is,  that  they  persuaded  the  chief 
to  leave  her  through  the  winter ;  and,  she  becoming  a  favorite 
w4th  them  all,  they  instructed  her,  sent  her  to  school,  and 
dressed  her  as  they  would  an  own  daughter,  and  would  only 
part  with  her  in  the  spring  on  condition  of  her  returning  in  the 
fall.  And  so  it  has  gone  on  till  now,  she  living  with  them  win- 
ters, and  here  with  her  father  summers  ;  for,  though  they  would 
like  to  take  her  entirely  out  of  the  woods,  she  would  not  desert 
her  father,  who  loves  her  as  his  life,  and  calls  her  the  light  of 
his  lodge,  —  no,  not  for  all  the  gold  in  the  cities." 

"  You  must  then  be  well  acquainted  with  this  Indian  family, 
and  can  give  me  their  history." 

"  As  far  as  is  proper  for  me  to  tell,  as  well  as  anybody,  per- 
haps. When  I  was  a  young  man,  I  at  times  used  to  live  with 
the  chief,  who  always  made  me  welcome  to  his  lodge,  and  gave 
me  his  confidence.  He  was  then  but  little  past  his  prime,  and 
one  of  the  smartest  men,  every  way,  I  ever  knew.     He  was  then 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  105 

worth  property,  and  lived  witli  his  first  wife,  this  girl's  mother, 
Mdio,  as  I  told  you,  was  very  good-looking  and  intelligent.  But 
his  second  wife  was  as  homely  as  his  first  was  handsome.  As  to 
Wenongonet  himself,  who  has  now  got  to  be,  though  still  active, 
an  old  man,  he  claims  to  have  been  a  direct  descendant  of 
Paugus, — a  grandson,  I  believe,  of  that  noted  chief,  —  who  was 
slain  in  Lovewell's  bloody  fight,  and  whose  tribe,  once  known 
as  the  Sokokis  or  Saco  Indians,  who  were  great  fighters,  it  is 
said,  were  then  forever  broken  up,  the  most  of  them  fleeing 
over  the  British  highlands  and  joining  the  St.  Francis  Indians 
in  Canada.  The  family  of  Paugus,  however,  with  a  few  of  the 
head  men,  who  survived  the  battle,  concluded  to  remain  this 
side  of  the  mountain,  and  try  to  keep  up  a  show  of  the  tribe  on 
these  lakes,  where  they  lived  till  Paugus'  son,  who  on  the  death 
of  his  father  became  their  sagamore  or  chief,  died,  when  they 
gradually  di-ew  off  into  Canada,  leaving  Wenongonet,  the  last 
chiefs  son,  the  only  permanent  Indian  resident,  after  a  while^ 
on  these  lakes.  But  come,  young  man,  enough  of  Indian  mat- 
ters for  to-day :  we  must  now  be  stirring,  or  our  day's  work 
may  come  short.  Plelp  me  to  take  my  canoe  up  here  into  the 
lake  ;  and,  within  four  hours,  the  time  to  which  I  will  limit  my 
absence,  we  will  see  what  can  be  done  by  each,  in  our  differ- 
ent tmdertakings." 

The  employment  of  another  half-hour  fully  sufficed  to  place 
the  canoe  of  the  hunter  in  the  smooth  water  above  the  rapids  : 
when  the  latter,  with  a  cheery  "  heigh  ho,"  at  each  light  dip  of  his 
springy  oar,  struck  off  towards  the  foot  of  the  pine-covered  hills 
that  lift  their  green  summits  from  the  western  shores  of  the 
lake,  leaving  his  young  companion  to  proceed  to  his  allotted 
portion  of  the  sports  or  labors  of  the  day.  Preparing  his  long 
fishing-rod  and  tackle,  according  to  the  instructions  which  the 
hunter  had  given  him  for  adapting  his  mode  of  fishing  to  the 
locality  and  season,  Claud  made  his  way  along  down  the  edge 
of  the  stream  to  a  designated  point,  a  short  distance  above  the 
place  where,  on  the  occurrence  of  the  incident  before  described, 


lOG 

they  had  6eas6"(J  td  Si^cend  the  rapids  in  their  canoes.  He  here 
found,  as  he  had  been  told,  below  a  traversing  reach  of  bare 
breakers,  a  large,  deep  eddy  of  gently  revolving  water,  in  the 
centre  of  which  lay  tossing  on  the  swell  a  broad  spiral  wreath 
of  spotless  foam.  The  hunter,  in  selecting  these  rapids,  and  es- 
pecially this  resting-spot  of  the  ascending  fish,  as  the  place 
where  he  could  safely  warrant  the  taking  of  the  needed  supply 
of  trout,  had  not  spoken  without  knowledge  ;  for  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  there  could  be  found,  in  all  the  regions  of  the 
north,  a  reach  of  running  water  of  equal  length  with  this  wild 
and  singularly  picturesque  portion  of  the  Androscoggin  river, 
containing  such  quantities  of  this  beautiful  fish  as  are  found 
about  midsummer,  swarming  up  the  rapids  on  their  way  from 
the  Umbagog  to  the  upper  lakes. 

So,  at  least,  Claud  then  found  it ;  for,  having  passed  to  the 
most  outward  point  of  rocks  inclosing  the  eddy,  he  no  sooner 
threw  in  and  drew  his  ship  halt  round  the  borders  of  the  foam- 
island  just  named,  than  a  dozen  large  trout  shot  up  from  be- 
neath, and  leaped  splashing  along  the  surface,  in  keen  rivalry 
for  the  prize  of  the  bait.  With  a  second  throw,  he  securely 
hooked  one  of  a  size  which  required  all  his  strength  to  draw  it, 
as  he  at  length  did,  flapping  and  floundering  to  a  safe  landing. 
And  for  the  next  three  hours  he  pursued  the  sport  with  a  suc- 
cess which,  notwithstanding  the  great  number  that  broke  away 
from  his  hook,  well  made  good  the  augury  of  his  beginning.  By 
that  time  he  had  caught  some  dozens,  of  sizes  varying  from  one 
to  seven  pounds,  and  enough,  and  more  than  he  needed.  But 
still  he  could  not  forego  his  exciting  employment,  and,  insensi- 
ble of  the  lapse  of  time,  continued  his  drafts  on  the  seemingly 
inexhaustible  eddy,  till  roused  by  the  long,  shrill  halloo  of 
the  returned  hunter,  summoning  him  to  the  landing  above. 
Throwing  down  his  pole  by  the  side  of  his  proud  display  of  fish, 
he  hastened  up*  to  the  lake,  where  he  found  the  hunter  com- 
placently employed  in  removing,  for  lightness  of  carriage,  the 
head  and  offal  of  a  noble  fat  buck ;  when  the  two,  with  mutual 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  107 

congratulations  on  their  success,  took  up  the  canoe,  and,  with  a 
stop  only  long  enough  to  take  in  the  trout,  carried  and  launched 
their  richly-freighted  craft  at  a  convenient  place  in  the  stream 
below.  Seemg  Claud  securely  seated  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe, 
and  the  freight  nicely  balanced,  the  hunter  took  his  paddle,  in- 
stead of  setting-pole,  the  better  to  restrain  the  speed  of  the  boat 
at  the  most  rapid  and  dangerous  passes,  and  struck  out  into  the 
current,  adown  which,  under  the  quick  and  skilful  strokes  of  its 
experienced  oarsman,  it  was  borne  with  almost  the  swiftness  of 
a  bird  on  the  wing,  till  it  reached  the  quiet  waters  of  the  pond ; 
and,  this  being  soon  passed  over,  they  entered  and  descended 
the  next  reach  of  rapids  with  equal  speed  and  safety.  All 
the  dangers  and  difficulties  were  now  over  ;  and,  leisurely  row- 
ing homeward,  they  were,  by  sunset,  at  the  cottage  of  the 
Elwoods,  displaying  the  fruits  of  their  enterprise,  and  recounting 
their  singular  adventures  to  the  surprised  and  gratified  inmates. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

"  Then  came  the  -n'oodman  with  his  sturdy  team 
Of  broad-horned  oxen,  to  complete  the  toil 
Which  axe  and  fire  had  left  him,  to  redeem, 
Tor  culture's  hand,  the  cold  and  root-bound  soil." 

The  next  morning,  it  being  the  day  appointed  for  the  "  log- 
ging bee,"  the  Elwoods  were  again  up  betimes,  to  be  prepared 
t  for  the  reception  of  the  expected  visitants.  On  going  out  into 
the  yard,  while  yet  the  coming  sun  was  only  beginning  to  flush 
the  eastern  horizon,  Mr.  Elwood  perceived,  early  as  it  was, 
a  man,  whom  he  presumed,  from  the  handspike  and  axe  on  his 
shoulder,  to  be  one  of  the  company,  entering  the  opening  and 
leisurely  approaching,  with  an  occasional  glance  backward 
along  the  road  from  the  settlements  below.  Not  recognizing 
the  man  as  an  acquaintance,  Elwood  noted  his  appearance 
closely  as  he  was  coming  up.  He  was  a  rather  young-looking 
man,  of  a  short,  compactly  built  figure,  with  quick  motions,  and 
that  peculiar  springy  step  which  distinguishes  men  of  active 
temperament  and  hopeful,  buoyant  spirits ;  while  the  fox  like  cut 
of  his  features,  the  lively  gray  eyes  that  beamed  from  them, 
and  the  evidently  quick  coming  and  going  thoughts  that  seemed 
to  flash  from  his  thin-moving  nostrils  and  play  on  his  curling 
lips,  served  to  indicate  rapid  perceptions,  shrewdness,  and  a 
kind  and  perhaps  fun-loving  disposition. 

"  Hillo,  captain,  —  or  captain  of  the  house,  as  I  suppose  you 
must  be,"  he  sang  out  cheerily,  as  with  slackening  step  he  ap- 
proached Elwood ;  "  did  you  ever  hear  spoken  of,  a  certain 
rough-and-ready    talking    sort    of    a   chap    they   call    Jonas 

Codman  ?  " 

(108) 


THE  TRAPPEES   OP  UMBAGOG.  109 

"  I  have  heard  of  a  Mr.  Codman,  and  was  told  that  he  would 
probably  be  here  to-day,"  doubtfully  replied  Elwood. 

"  Well,  I  am  he,  such  as  he  is,  pushed  forward  as  a  sort  of 
advanced  guard,  —  no,  herald  must  be  the  book-word,  —  to  tell 
you  that  you  are  taken.     Did  you  mistrust  it  ?  " 

"  No,  not  exactly." 

"  You  are,  nevertheless.  But  I'll  tell  you  a  story,  which,  if  you 
can  see  the  moral,  may  give  you  some  hints  to  show  you  how 
to  turn  the  affair  to  your  advantage  without  suffering  the  least 
inconvenience  yourself;  and  here  it  is  : 

"  There  was  once  a  curious  sort  of  a  fellow,  whose  land  was 
so  covered  with  stones,  which  had  rolled  down  from  a  mountain, 
that  little  or  nothing  could  grow  among  them ;  and  the  question 
was,  how  he  should  ever  remove  them.  Well,  one  day,  when 
he  was  thinking  on  the  matter,  he  found  in  the  field  an  old 
Black-Art  book,  on  the  cover  of  which  he  read,  '  One  chapter 
will  Iring  one,  tico  chapters  two,  and  so  on;  but  set  and  Jceep 
them  at  icorh,  lest  a  ivorst  thing  hefalU  So,-  to  see  what  would 
come  of  it,  he  read  one  chapter ;  when  a  great,  stout,  dubious- 
looking  devil  made  his  appearance,  and  asked  what  he  should 
go  about  ?  '  Go  to  throwing  these  stones  over  the  mountain,' 
said  the  man.  The  devil  went  at  it.  But  the  man,  seeing  the 
poor  devil  was  having  a  hard  job  of  it,  read  on  till  he  had 
raised  about  a  dozen  of  the  same  kind  of  chaps,  and  set  them 
all  at  work.  And  so  smashingly  did  they  make  the  stones  fly 
that,  by  sunset,  the  last  were  disappearing ;  and  the  man  was 
about  to  set  them  to  pulling  up  the  stumps  on  his  newly-cleared 
land.  But  they  shook  their  heads  at  this,  and,  being  pretty 
well  tuckered  out,  agreed  to  quit  even,  if  he  would,  and  go  off 
without  the  usual  pay  in  such  cases  made  and  provided  in 
devildom ;  when,  he  making  no  objections,  they,  with  another 
squint  at  the  green  gnarly  stumps,  cut  and  run ;  and  all  the 
chapters  he  could  read  after  that — for  he  began  to  like  the  fun 
of  having  his  land  cleared  at  so  cheap  a  rate  —  would  never 
bring  them  back  again." 

10 


110  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

So  saying,  the  speaker  turned  ;  and,  without  the  explanation 
or  addition  of  a  single  word,  retraced  his  steps  and  disappeared 
in  the  woods,  leaving  the  puzzled  Elwood  to  construe  the  mean- 
ing of  his  story  as  he  best  could.  Very  soon,  however,  sounds 
reached  his  ears  which  enabled  him  to  form  some  conjecture 
what  the  man  intended  by  his  odd  announcement.  The  ming- 
ling voices  of  ox-team  drivers,  with  their  loud  and  peculiarly 
modulated  "  Haw  Buck  !  gee  !  and  up  there,  ye  lazy  loons  !  " 
were  now  heard  resounding  through  the  woods,  and  evidently 
approaching  along  the  road  from  the  settlement.  And  soon  an 
array  of  eight  sturdy  pair  of  oxen,  each  bearing  a  bundle  of 
hay  bound  on  the  top  of  their  yoke  with  a  log  chain,  and  each 
attended  by  a  driver,  with  a  handspike  on  his  shoulder,  march- 
ing by  their  side,  emerged  one  after  another  from  the  woods, 
and  came  filing  up  the  road  towards  the  spot  where  he  stood. 
As  the  long  column  approached,  Elwood,  with  a  flutter  of  the 
heart,  recognized  in  the  driver  most  in  advance,  the  erect,  stal- 
wart figure  and  the  proud  and  haughty  bearing  of  Gaut  Gurley. 

"  Good-morning,  good-morning,  neighbor  Elwood,  as  I  have 
lately  been  pleased  to  find  you,"  exclaimed  Gurley,  with  an  air 
of  careless  assurance,  as  he  came  within  speaking  distance. 
"  We  have  come,  as  you  see,  to  give  you  a  lift  at  your  logging. 
So  show  us  right  into  your  slash,  and  let  us  go  at  it,  at  once. 
We  shall  find  time  to  talk  afterwards." 

Elwood,  with  some  general  remark  expressive  of  his  obliga- 
tion to  the  whole  of  the  company  at  hand  for  their  voluntary 
and  unexpected  kindness,  led  the  way  to  the  burned  slash,  and 
went  back  to  meet  and  salute  the  rest  of  the  company,  as  they 
severally  came  up.  Having  performed  this  ceremony  with 
those  having  the  immediate  charge  of  the  oxen,  till  the  whole 
had  passed  on  to  their  work,  he  turned  to  the  rest  of  the  com- 
pany, whom,  though  before  unnoticed  by  him,  he  now  found 
following  immediately  behind  the  teams.  These  consisted  of 
some  half-dozen  sturdy  logmen,  with  their  implements,  appointed 
to  pair  off  with  the  drivers  of  the  teams,  so  as  to  provide  two 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  Ill 

men  to  each  yoke  of  oxen ;  the  hunter,  Phillips,  with  his 
brisk  wife  and  buxom  daughter,  bearing  a  basket  of  plates, 
knives,  forks,  spoons,  and  extra  frying-pans,  to  supply  any  de- 
ficiency Mrs.  Elwood  might  find  in  furnishing  her  tables  or  in 
cooking  for  so  large  a  company ;  and  lastly.  Comical  Codman,  as 
he  was  often  called  by  the  settlers,  who,  though  the  first  to  come 
forward  to  meet  Elwood,  was  now  bringing  up  the  rear. 

"  A  merry  morning  to  you,"  exclaimed  the  hunter,  as  the 
logmen  turned  off  to  the  slash;  "a  merry  morning  to  you, 
neighbor  Elwood.  This  looks  some  like  business  to-day.  You 
were  not  expecting  us  a  very  gy^eat  sight  earlier  than  this,  I 
conclude,"  he  added,  with  a  jocular  smile. 

"  Earlier  ?  Why,  it  is  hardly  sunrise  yet,  and  I  am  wholly 
at  a  loss  to  know  how  men  living  at  such  distances  could  get 
here  at  this  hour." 

"  Well,  that  is  easily  explained.  They  haven't  had  to  travel 
so  far  this  morning  as  you  imagine.  They  came  on  as  far  as 
my  place  last  night,  mostly,  and  such  as  could  be  accommodated 
nestled  with  me  in  my  house.  The  rest  camped  out  near  by  in 
the  bush,  which  is  just  as  well  generally  with  us  woodsmen. 
But  you,  having  no  mistrust  of  this,  as  it  seems,  were  taken,  I 
suppose,  by  surprise  at  our  appearance  so  early." 

"  I  should  have  been,  wholly  so,  but  for  the  coming  ahead  of 
this  gentleman,"  replied  Elwood,  pointing  to  Codman  ;  "  an^ 
then,  I  was  rather  at  loss  to  know  what  he  intended  by  his 
queer  way  of  announcing  you." 

"  Very  likely.  He  never  does  or  says  any  thing  like  other 
folks.  Jonas,"  contined  the  hunter,  turning  to  the  odd  genius 
of  whom  he  was  speaking,  "  you  are  a  good  trapper,  but  I  fear 
you  make  a  bad  fore-runner." 

"  Well,  I  am  all  right  now  here  in  the  rear,  I  suppose,"  re- 
plied the  other,  with  an  oddly  assumed  air  of  abashment.  "  A 
man  is  generally  good  for  one  thing  or  t'other.  If  I  ain't  a 
good  forerunner,  it  then  follows  that  I  am  a  good  hind-runner." 

"  You  see  he  must  have  his  fol-de-rol,  Mr.  Elwood,"  said  the 


112 

hunter.     "  But,  for  all  that,  he  is  a  good  fellow  enough  at  the 
bottom,  if  you  can  ever  iind  it :  ain't  all  that  so,  Jonas  ?  " 

"  Sort  of  so  and  sort  of  not  so ;  but  a  little  more  not  than 
sorter,  they  may  say,  perhaps.  And  I  don't  think,  myself, 
there  is  much  either  at  the  top  or  bottom  to  brag  on,"  rejoined 
Codman,  suddenly  darting  off  to  join  his  companions  in  the 
slash ;  and  now  whistling  a  tune,  as  he  went,  and  now  crowing 
like  a  cock,  in  notes  and  tones  each  of  its  kind  so  wondrous 
loud  and  shrill  that  the  whole  valley  of  the  lake  seemed 
wakened  by  the  strange  music. 

The  operations  of  the  day  having  been  thus  auspicuously 
commenced  in  the  slash,  Elwood,  retaining  the  hunter  with  him 
at  the  house  to  advise  and  assist  in  such  arrangements  and  pre- 
parations for  breakfast  as  might  render  the  meal  most  acceptable 
to  the  company,  entered  at  once  upon  his  duties  as  host;  and,  it 
being  found  that  neither  the  room  nor  tables  in  the  house  were 
sufficient  to  seat  all  the  company,  it  was  decided,  for  the  purpose 
of  avoiding  every  appearance  of  invidious  distinction,  to  pre- 
pare temporary  tables  and  seat  the  whole  of  them,  except  the 
females,  in  the  open  air  near  the  house.  Accordingly  the 
hunter,  who,  from  his  experience  as  a  woodman,  was  ever 
ready  at  such  contrivances,  went  to  work ;  and,  clearing  and 
levelling  off  a  smooth  place,  driving  into  the  ground  three 
sets  of  short  stout  crotches,  laying  cross-pieces  in  each,  and 
then  two  new  pine  planks  longitudinally  over  the  whole,  he  soon  ■ 
erected  a  neat  and  substantial  table,  long  enough  to  seat  a  score 
of  guests.  Seats  on  each  side  were  then  supplied  by  a  similar 
process ;  when  Mrs.  Elwood,  who  had  watched  the  operation 
with  a  housewife's  interest,  made  her  appearance  with  a  roll 
of  fine  white  tablecloths,  the  relics  of  her  better  days,  and 
covered  the  whole  with  the  snowy  drapery,  making  a  table 
which  might  vie  in  appearance  with  those  of  the  most  fashion- 
able restaurants  of  the  cities.  Upon  this  table,  plates,  knives 
and  forks,  with  all  other  of  the  usual  accompaniments,  were 
speedily  arranged  by  the  quick-footed  females ;  while  the  sounds 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  113 

of  boiling  pots,  and  the  hissing  frying-pans  spreading  through 
the  house  aiid  around  the  yard  the  savory  fumes  of  the  cooking 
trout,  betokened  the  advanced  progress  of  the  culinary  opera- 
tions within,  which  were  now  soon  completed ;  when  the  fact 
was  announced  by  Mr.  Elwood  by  several  long  and  loud  blasts 
on  his  "  tin  horn  "  to  the  expectant  laborers  in  the  field,  who, 
while  the  meal  was  being  borne  smoking  on  to  the  table,  chained 
their  oxen  to  stumps  and  saplings  about  the  field,  parcelled  out 
to  them  the  hay,  and  repaired  to  their  morning  banquet. 

Banquet!  A  banquet  among  backwoodsmen?  Yes;  and 
why  not  ?  •It  is  strange  that  a  thousand  generations  of  epicures 
should  have  lived,  gluttonized,  and  passed  away  from  the  earth, 
without  appearing  to  understand  the  chief  requisite  for  that 
class  of  animal  enjoyments  which  they  seem  to  make  the  great 
end  and  aim  of  their  lives,  —  without  appearing  to  realize  that 
it  is  the  appetite,  not  the  quality  of  the  food,  that  makes  the 
feast ;  that  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  feast,  indeed,  with- 
out a  real  not  factitious  appetite ;  and  that  there  can  be  no 
real  appetite  without  toil  or  some  prolonged  and  vigorous 
exercise.  Nero  ransacked  his  whole  kingdom,  and  expended 
millions  for  delicacies ;  and  yet  he  never  experienced,  prob- 
ably, one-half  the  enjoyments  of  the  palate  that  were  expe- 
rienced from  the  coarsest  fare  by  his  poorest  laboring  subject. 
No,  the  men  of  ease  and  idleness  may  have  surfeits,  the  men 
of  toil  can  only  have  banquets.  And  it  is  doubtless  a  part  of 
that  nicely  balanced  system  of  compensations  which  Provi- 
dence applies  to  men,  that  the  appetites  of  the  industrious  poor 
should-  make  good  the  deficiencies  in  the  quaUty  of  their  food, 
so  that  it  should  always  afford  equal  enjoyment  in  the  con- 
sumption with  that  experienced  by  the  idle  rich  over  their 
sumptuous  tables. 

The  meal  passed  off  pleasantly;  and  when  finished,  the 
gratified  and  chatty  workmen,  with  their  numbers  now  in- 
creased by  the  addition  of  the  two  Elwoods  and  the  hunter, 
returned,  with  the  eager  alacrity  of  boys  hurrying  to  an  ap- 

10* 


114  ^        GAUT  gurley;   or, 

pointed  game  of  football,  to  their  voluntary  labors  in  the  field, 
in  which  they  had  already  made  surprising  progress. 

The  business  of  the  day  was  now  resumed  in  earnest.  The 
teamsters  having  quickly  scattered  to  their  respective  teams 
and  brought  them  with  a  lively  step  on  to  the  ground,  and 
having  there  each  received  their  allotted  quota  of  log-rollers, 
to  pile  up  the  logs  as  fast  as  drawn,  at  once  penetrated  at 
different  points  into  the  thickest  parts  of  the  blackened  masses 
of  timber  before  them,  awaiting  their  sturdy  labors.  Here  the 
largest  log  in  a  given  space,  and  the  one  the  most  difficult  to 
be  removed,  was  usually  selected  as  the  nucleus  of  the  proposed 
pile*.  Then  two  logs  of  the  next  largest  size  were  drawn  up 
on  each  side,  and  placed  at  a  little  distance  in  a  line  parallel 
with  the  first,  when  the  intermediate  spaces  were  filled  with 
limbs,  knots,  and  the  smallest  timber  at  hand ;  so  that  a  fire, 
when  the  process  of  burning  the  piles  should  be  commenced, 
.communicated  at  the  centre  thus  prepared,  would  spread 
through  the  whole,  and  not  be  likely  to  go  out  till  all  the  logs 
were  consumed.  When  this  foundation  was  laid,  the  next 
nearest  surrounding  logs  were  drawn  alongside  and  rolled  up 
on  skids,  by  the  logmen  stationed  there  with  their  handspikes 
for  the  purpose.  Then  generally  commenced  a  keen  strife 
betweeia  the  teamster  and  the  log-rollers,  to  see  which  should 
first  do  their  part  and  keep  the  others  the  most  closely  em- 
ployed. And  the  result  was  that  in  a  very  short  time  a  large 
pile  of  logs  was  completed,  and  a  space  of  ten  or  fifteen  square 
rods  was  completely  cleared  around  it.  This  done,  an  adjoin- 
ing thicket  of  timber  was  sought  out,  another  pile  started,  and 
another  space  cleared  off  in  the  same  manner.  And  thus  pro- 
ceeded the  work,  with  each  team  and  its  attendants,  in  every 
part  of  the  slash ;  while  the  same  spirit  of  rivalry  which  had 
thus  began  to  be  exhibited  between  the  members  of  each  gang 
soon  took  the  form  of  a  competition  between  one  gang  and  an- 
other, who  were  now  everywhere  seen  vicing  with  each  other 
in  the  strife  to  do  the  most  or  to  build  up  the  largest  and 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.         115 

greatest  number  of  log-heaps  in  the  shortest  space  of  time.  The 
whole  field,  indeed,  was  thus  soon  made  to  exhibit  the  animated 
but  singular  spectacle  of  men,  engaged  in  a  wholly  voluntary- 
labor,  putting  forth  all  the  unstinted  applications  of  strength 
and  displaying  all  the  alertness  and  zeal  of  men  at  work  for 
a  wager.  But,  among  all  the  participants  in  the  labors  of  the 
day,  no  one  manifested  so  much  interest  in  advancing  the 
work,  no  one  was  so  active  and  laborious,  as  Gaut  Gurley. 
Not  only  was  he  continually  inciting  and  pressing  up  all  others 
to  the  labor,  but  was  ever  foremost  in  the  heaviest  work  him- 
self, generally  selecting  the  most  difficult  parts  for  himself,  and 
often  performing  feats  of  strength  that  scarcely  any  two  men 
on  the  ground  were  able  to  perform.  Nor  wns  the  Herculean 
strength  which  he  so  often  displayed  before  the  eyes  of  the 
astonished  workmen,  ever  made  useless,  as  is  sometimes  the 
case  with  men  of  great  physical  powers,  by  any  misapplication 
of  his  efforts.  He  seemed  perfectly  to  understand  the  business 
in  which  they  were  engaged ;  and,  while  all  wondered,  though 
no  one  knew,  where  he  had  received  his  training  for  such 
work,  it  was  soon,  by  common  consent,  decided  that  he  was 
much  the  most  efficient  hand  on  the  ground,  many  even  going  so 
far  as  to  declare  that  his  equal  was  never  before  seen  in  that 
part  of  the  country. 

''  You  see  that,  don't  you,  captain  ?  "  said  Codman,  coming 
up  close  to  Elwood,  and  speaking  in  a  half  whisper,  as  he 
pointed  to  Gaut  Gurley,  who,  having  noticed  two  of  the  stoutest 
of  the  hands  vainly  trying  to  roll  up  a  large  log,  rushed  for- 
ward, and,  bidding  them  stand  aside,  threw  it  up  single-handed 
without  appearing  to  exert  half  his  strength.  "  You  see  that, 
don't  you,  captain?"  he  repeated,  with  an  air  of  mingled 
wonder  and  waggishness.  "  Now,  what  do  you  think  of  my 
story,  and  the  great,  stout,  black-looking  devil  that  came,  on 
reading  the  first  chapter,  and  made  the  b^g  stones  fly  so  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  thought  much  about  it,"  carelessly  replied  Elwood, 


116  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

evidently  wishing  not  to  appear  to  understand  tlie  allusion  of 
the  other.     "  But  why  do  you  ask  such  a  question  ?  " 

"  Don't  know  myself,  it's  a  fact ;  but  I  happened  to  be  think- 
ing of  things.  But  say,  captain,  you  haven't  been  reading  any 
chapters  in  any  strange  book  yourself,  lately,  have  you  ?  "  said 
Codman,  with  a  queer  look. 

"  No,  I  guess  not,"  replied  Elwood,  laughingly,  though  visibly 
annoyed  by  the  subject. 

"  No  ?  Nor  none  of  the  family  ?  "  persisted  the  other,  glanc- 
ing towards  Claud  Elwood,  who  was  standing  near  by.  "  Well, 
I  wish  I  knew  what  put  that  story  into  my  head,  when  I  let 
it  off  this  morning.  It  is  de-ive-lish  queer,  at  any  rate,  con- 
sidering." So  saying,  he  walked  off  to  his  work,  croaking  like 
a  rooster  at  some  questionable  object. 

Although  none  of  the  settlers  present  seemed  disposed  to 
attribute  the  extraordinary  physical  powers,  which  Gaut  Gur- 
ley had  so  unmistakably  shown,  to  any  supernatural  agency, 
as  the  trapper,  Codman,  whose  other  singularities  were  not 
without  a'  smart  sprinkling  of  superstition,  was  obviously  in- 
clining to  do,  yet  those  powers  were  especially  calculated,  as 
may  well  be  supposed  of  men  of  their  class,  to  make  a  strong 
impression  on  the  minds  of  them  all,  and  invest  the  possessor 
with  an  importance  which,  in  their  eyes,  he  could  in  no  other 
way  obtain.  Accordingly  he  soon  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  the 
lion  of  the  day,  and  suddenly  thus  acquired,  for  the  time  being, 
as  he  doubtless  shrewdly  calculated  he  could  do  in  this  way,  a 
consequence  and  influence  of  which  no  other  man  could  boast, 
perhaps,  in  the  whole  settlement. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  clearing  off  the  logs  was  prosecuted 
with  increasing  spirit  and  resolution.  And  so  eagerly  intent 
had  all  the  hands  become,  in  pressing  forward  to  its  completion 
their  self-imposed  task,  which  all  could  see  was  now  fast  draw- 
ing to  a  close,  that  they  took  no  note  of  the  flight  of  time,  and 
were  consequently  taken  by  surprise  when  the  sound  of  the 
horn  summoned  them  to  their  midday  meal. 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  117 

"  Why !  it  can't  yet  be  noon,"  exclaimed  one,  glancing  up  at 
the  sun. 

"  jSTo,"  responded  another.  "  Some  of  us  here  have  been 
counting  on  seeing  the  whole  job  nearly  done  by  noon,  but  it 
will  take  three  hours  yet  to  do  that.  No,  the  women  must  have 
made  a  mistake." 

"  "Well,  I  don't  know  about  that :  let  us  see,"  said  the  hunter, 
turning  his  back  to  the  sun,  and  throwing  out  one  foot  as  far 
as  he  could  while  keeping  his  body  perpendicular.  "iS'ow 
my  clock,  which,  for  noon  on  the  21st  of  June,  or  longest  day 
of  summer,  is  the  shadow  of  my  head  falling  on  half  my  foot, 
and  then  passing  off  beyond  it  about  half  an  inch  each  day  for 
the  rest  of  the  season,  makes  it,  as  /  should  calculate  the 
distance  between  my  foot  and  the  shadow  of  my  head,  now 
evidently  receding,  —  makes  it,  for  this  last  day  of  August,  about 
a  quarter  past  twelve." 

"  I  am  but  little  over  half  past  eleven,"  said  Codman,  pulling 
out  and  inspecting  an  old  watch.  "  Phillips,  may  be,  is  thinking 
of  that  deer  that  he  has  been  promising  himself  and  us  for 
dinner;  and,  before  I  take  his  calculation  on  shadows  and 
distances,  I  should  like  to  know  how  many  inches  he  allowed 
for  the  hurrying  influence  of  his  appetite." 

"  What  nonsense.  Comical !  But  what  you  mean  by  it  is,  I 
suppose,  that  I  can't  tell  the  time  ?  " 

"  Not  within  half  an  hour  by  the  sun." 

"  Why,  man,  it  is  the  sun  that  makes  the  time ;  and,  as  that 
body  never  gets  out  of  order  or  runs  down,  why  not  learn  to 
read  it,  and  depend  directly  upon  it  for  the  hour  of  the  day  ? 
If  half  the  time  men  spend  in  bothering  over  timepieces  were 
devoted  to  studying  the  great  clock  of  the  heavens,  they  need 
not  depend  on  such  uncertain  contrivances  as  common  clocks 
and  watches  to  know  the  time  of  day." 

"  But  how  in  cloudy  weather  ?  " 

"  Tell  the  time  of  day  by  your  feelings.  Take  note  of  the 
state  of  your  appetite  and  general  feelings  at  the  various  hours 


118 

of  the  day,  when  it  is  fair  and  you  know  the  time,  and  then 
apply  the  rule  when  you  have  no  other  means  of  judging;  and 
you  may  thus  train  yourself,  so  that  you  need  not  be  half  an 
hour  out  of  the  way  in  your  reckoning  through  the  whole 
day." 

"  Well,  supposing  it  is  night  ?  " 

"  Night  is  for  sleep,  and  it  is  no  consequence  to  know  the 
time,  except  the  time  waking.  And,  as  to  that,  none  need  be 
in  fault,  if  they  had  you  anywhere  within  two  miles  to  crow 
for  them." 

"  A  regular  hit !  I  own  it  a  hit,  Mr.  Hunter.  But  here 
comes  Mr.  Elwood :  we  will  leave  the  question  of  the  time  of 
day  to  him." 

"  We  have  a  correct  noon-mark  at  the  house,  and  the  women 
are  probably  right,"  replied  Elwood.  "At  all  events,  men 
who  have  worked  like  lions,  as  you  all  have  this  forenoon,  must 
by  this  time  need  refreshment.  So,  let  us  all  drop  work,  and 
at  once  be  off  to  dinner." 

With  such  familiar  jokes  and  converse,  the  light-hearted 
backwoodsmen  threw  off  their  crocky  frocks,  and,  after  washing 
up  at  a  runlet  at  hand,  marched  off  in  chatty  groups  to  the 
house,  where  they  found  awaiting  their  arrival  the  well-spread 
board  of  their  appreciating  hostess,  this  time  made  more  tempt- 
ing to  their  vigorous  and  healthy  appetites  by  the  addition,  to 
the  fine  trout  of  the  morning,  of  the  variously-cooked  haunches 
of  the  hunter's  venison.  And,  having  here  done  ample  justice 
to  their  excellent  meal,  they  again  hastened  back  to  their  labor 
in  the  field,  unanimously  declaring  for  the  good  husbandman's 
rule,  "  Work  first  and  play  afterwards,"  and  saying  they  would 
have  no  rest  nor  recreation  till  they  had  seen  the  last  log  of 
the  slash  disposed  of.  And  with  such  animation  did  they  resume 
their  labors,  and  with  such  vigor  continue  to  apply  themselves 
in  carrying  out  their  resolution,  and  in  hastening  the  hour  of 
its  fulfilment,  that  by  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  their  task 
was  ended ;  and  the  gratified  Mr.  Elwood  had  the  satisfaction 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  119 

of  seeing  the  formidable-looking  slash  of  the  morning  con- 
vertefi  into  a  comparatively  smooth  field,  requiring  only  the 
action  of  the  fire  on  the  log  heaps,  with  a  few  days'  tending,  to 
make  it  fit  for  the  seed  and  harrow. 

"  Come,  boys,"  said  the  hunter  to  the  company,  now  all  within 
speaking  distance,  except  two  or  three  who  had  somehow  dis- 
appeared ;  "  come,  boys,"  he  repeated,  after  pausing  to  see  the 
last  log  thrown  up  in  its  place,  "  let  us  gather  up  here  near  the 
middle  of  the  lot.  Comical  Codman  and  some  others,  I  have 
noticed,  have  been  putting  their  heads  together,  and  I  kinder 
surmise  we  may  now  soon  expect  some  sort  of  christening 
ceremony  of  the  field  we  have  walked  through  in  such  fine  style 
to-day;  and,  if  they  make  out  any  thing  worth  the  while,  it  may 
be  well  to  give  them  a  good  cheer  or  two,  to  wind  off  with." 

While  the  men  were  taking  their  stand  at  the  spot  designated 
by  the  hunter,  Codman  was  seen  mounting  a  conspicuous  log- 
heap  at  the  southerly  end  of  the  field  ;  and  two  more  men,  at 
the  same  time,  made  their  appearance  on  the  tops  of  different 
piles  on  opposite  sides  of  the  lot,  and  nearly  abreast  of  the 
place  where  the  expectant  company  were  collected  and  standing, 
silently  awaiting  the  commencement  of  the  promised  ceremony. 
Presently  one  of  the  two  last-named,  with  a  preliminary  flourish 
of  his  hand,  slowly  and  loudly  began : 

"  Since  we  see  the  last  logs  fairly  rolFd, 
And  log-heaps  full  fifty,  all  told, 

We  should  deem  it  a  shame 
If  so  handsome  and  well-cleared  a  field, 
Bidding  fair  for  a  hundred-fold  yield, 

Be  afforded  no  name^'^ 

To  this,  the  man  standing  on  the  opposite  pile,  in  the  same  loud 
and  measured  tone  promptly  responded  : 

"  Then  a  name  we  will  certainly  give  it. 
If  you'll  listen,  and  all  well  receive  it, 
As  justly  you  may : 


120 

"We  will  call  it  the  thing  it  will  make, 
We  will  name  it  the  Pride  of  the  Lake, 
Or  the  Job  of  a  Day." 

Before  the  last  words  of  this  unique  duet  had  died  on  the 
ear,  Comical  Codman  on  his  distant  perch  straightened  up,  and, 
triumphantly  clapping  his  sides  like  the  boastful  bird  whose 
crowing  he  could  so  wonderfully  imitate,  raised  his  shrill,  loud, 
and  long-drawn  huh-huk-he-o-Jio  m  a  volume  of  sound  that 
thrilled  through  the  forest  and  sent  its  repeating  echoes  from 
hill  to  hill  along  the  distant  borders  of  the  lake. 

"  There,  the  dog  has  got  the  start  of  us ! "  exclaimed  the 
hunter,  joining  the  rest  of  the  company  in  their  surprise  and 
laughter  at  the  prompt  action  of  the  trapper  as  well  as  at  the 
striking  character  of  his  performance,  —  "  fairly  the  start  of  us; 
but  let's  follow  him  up  close,  boys.  So  here  goes  for  the  new 
name ! " 

And  the  prolonged  "  hurra  !  hurra !  hurra  ! "  burst  from  the 
lips  of  the  strong-voiced  woodmen  in  three  tremendous  cheers 
for  the  " Pride  of  the  Lake  and  the  Job  of  a  Day" 

All  the  labors  and  performances  of  the  field  being  now  over, 
the  company  gathered  up  their  tools,  and  by  common  consent 
moved  towards  the  house,  where,  it  was  understood,  an  hour  or 
so,  before  starting  for  their  respective  homes,  should  be  spent 
in  rest,  chatting  with  the  women,  or  other  recreation,  and  a 
consultation  also  be  held,  among  those  interested,  for  forming 
a  company,  fixing  on  the  time,  and  making  other  arrangements 
for  the  contemplated  trapping  and  hunting  expedition  of  the 
now  fast-approaching  season. 

As  the  company  were  proceeding  along  promiscuously  towards 
the  house,  Gaut  Gurley,  who  had  thus  far  through  the  day 
manifested  no  desire  for  any  particular  conversation  with  Mr. 
Elwood,  nor  in  any  way  deported  himself  so  as  to  lead  others 
to  infer  a  former  acquaintance  between  them,  now  suddenly 
fell  in  by  his  side ;  when,  contriving  to  detain  him  till  the  rest 
had  passed  on  out  of  sight,  he  paused  in  his  steps  and  said : 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP   UMBAGOG.  121 

"  "^Yell,  Elvrood,  I  told  you  in  the  morning,  you  know,  that 
we  would  do  the  work  first  and  the  talking  afterwards.  The 
work  has  now  been  done,  and  I  hope  to  your  satisfaction." 

"  Yes  —  0  yes  —  entirely,"  replied  Elwood,  hesitating  in  his 
doubt  about  what  was  to  follow  from  the  other,  whose  un- 
expected conduct  and  stand  for  his  benefit  he  hardly  knew  how 
to  construe.  "  Yes,  the  neighbors  have  done  me  a  substantial 
favor,  and  you  all  deserve  my  hearty  thanks." 

"I  was  not  fishing  for  thanks,"  returned  Gaut,  half-con- 
temptuously,  "  but  wished  a  few  words  with  you  on  private 
matters  which  concern  only  you  and  myself.  And,  to  come  to 
the  point  at  once,  I  would  ascertain,  m  the  first  place,  if  you 
know  whether  you  and  I  are  understood,  in  this  settlement,  to 
be  old  acquaintances  or  new  ones  ?  " 

"  New  ones,  I  suppose,  of  course,  unless  it  be  known  to  the 
contrary  through  your  means.  /  have  not  said  a  word  about 
it,  nor  have  my  family,  I  feel  confident,"  replied  Elwood,  de- 
murely. 

"Very  well;  our  former  acqaintance  is  then  wholly  un- 
suspected here.  Let  it  remain  so.  But  have  you  ever  hinted 
to  any  of  the  settlers  what  you  may  have  known  or  heard 
ifbout  me,  or  any  former  passages  of  my  life,  which  occurred 
when  I  used  to  operate  in  this  section  or  elsewhere  ?  " 

"  No,  not  one  word." 

"  All  is  well,  then.  As  you  have  kept  and  continue  to  keep 
my  secrets,  so  shall  yours  be  kept.  It  is  a  dozen  or  fifteen 
years  since  I  have  been  in  this  section  at  all.  It  is  filling  up 
with  new  men.  There  are  but  two  persons  now  in  the  settle- 
ment that  can  ever  have  seen  or  known  me.  And  they  will 
not  disturb  me." 

"  Then  there  are  two  that  have  known  you  ?  Who  can  they 
be?" 

"  One  is  "Wenongonet,  an  old  Indian  chief,  as  he  calls  himself, 
still  living  on  one  of  the  upper  lakes,  they  say,  but  too  old  to 
11 


12a  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

ramble  or  attend  to  anybody's  business  but  bis  own.  The 
other  is  Phillips,  the  hunter." 

"  Phillips  !  Phillips,  did  you  say  ?  Why,  as  much  as  he  has 
been  at  our  house,  he  has  never  dropt  a  word  from  which  one 
could  infer  that  you  were  not  a  perfect  stranger  to  him.'* 

"  I  did  not  suppose  he  had.  Phillips  is  a  peaceable,  close- 
mouthed  fellow ;  pretends  not  to  know  any  thing  about  anybody, 
when  he  thinks  the  parties  concerned  would  rather  have  him 
ignorant ;  keeps  a  secret  by  never  letting  anybody  know  he 
has  one ;  and  never  means  to  cross  another  man's  path.  I  can 
get  along  with  Mm,  too.  And  the  only  question  now  is  whether 
you  and  I  can  live  together  in  the  same  settlement.'* 

"  It  will  probably  be  your  fault  if  we  can't.  I  shall  make 
war  on  no  one." 

"  My  fault !  Why  I  wish  to  be  on  good  terms  with  you ; 
and  yet,  Elwood,  you  feel  out  of  sorts  with  me,  and,  in  spite 
of  all  I  can  do,  seem  disposed  to  keep  yourself  aloof.'* 

"  If  I  do  seem  so,  it  may  be  because  the  past  teaches  me 
that  the  best  way  to  avoid  quarrels  is  to  avoid  intimacies.  You 
know  how  we  last  parted  in  that  gambling-room.  I  had  no 
business  to  be  there,  I  admit ;  but  that  was  no  excuse  for  your 
treatment." 

"  Treatment !  Why,  Elwood,  is  it  possible  you  have  been 
under  a  misapprehension  about  that,  all  this  time  ?  "  responded 
Gaut,  with  that  peculiar  wheedling  manner  which  he  so  well 
knew  how  to  assume  when  he  wished  to  carry  his  point  with 
another.  "  My  object  then  was  to  save  the  money  for  you  and 
me,  so  that  we  could  divide  it  satisfactorily  between  ourselves. 
I  was  angry  enough  at  those  other  fellows,  whom  I  saw  getting 
all  your  money  in  that  way,  I  confess  ;  and,  in  what  I  said,  I 
was  whipping  them  over  your  shoulders.  I  thought  you  under- 
stood it.'* 

"  I  didn't  understand  it  in  that  way,'*  replied  Elwood,  sur- 
prised and  evidently  staggered  at  the  bold  and  unexpected 


^HE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  123 

statement.  "  I  didn't  take  you  so :  could  that  be  all  you  in- 
tended?" 

"  Certainly  it  was,"  resumed  Gaut,  in  the  same  insinuating 
tone.  "  Had  I  supposed  it  necessary,  I  should  have  seen  you 
and  explained  it  at  the  time.  But  it  is  explained  now ;  so  let 
it  go,  and  every  thing  go  that  has  been  unpleasant  between  us  ; 
let  us  forget  all,  and  henceforth  be  on  good  terms.  Our  chil- 
dren, as  you  may  have  suspected,  seem  intent  on  being  friends ; 
and  why  should  not  we  be  friends  also  ?  It  will  be  a  gratifica- 
tion to  them,  and  we  can  easily  make  it  the  means  of  benefiting 
each  other.  You  know  how  much  I  once  did  in  helping  you 
to  property,  —  I  can  do  so  again,  if  we  will  but  understand  each 
other.  "VYhat  say  ydu,  Elwood  ?  Will  you  establish  the  treaty, 
and  give  me  your  hand  upon  it  ?  " 

Elwood  trembled  as  the  other  bent  his  fascinating  gaze  upon 
him,  hesitated,  began  to  demur  feebly;  but,  being  artfully 
answered,  soon  yielded  and  extended  his  hand,  which  Gaut 
seized  and  shook  heartily;  when  at  the  suggestion  of  the  latter 
they  separated  and  proceeded  by  different  courses,  so  that  they 
might  not  be  seen  together,  to  join  the  company  at  the  house, 
whom  they  found,  as  they  expected,  in  consultation  about  the 
proposed  trapping  and  hunting  expedition  to  the  upper  lakes, 
the  time  of  starting,  and  the  names  and  number  of  those  volun- 
teering to  join  the  association,  only  remaining  to  be  fixed  and 
ascertained.  That  time  was  finally  fixed  on  the  15th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  the  company  was  formed  to  consist  of  the  two 
Elwoods,  Phillips,  Gurley,  Codman,  and  such  others  as  might 
thereafter  wi*sh  to  join  them.  This  being  settled,  they  broke 
up  and  departed  for  their  respective  homes. 


CHAPTER    X. 

"  All  good  to  me  is  lost ; 
Evil,  be  thou  my  good" 

The  next  scene  in  the  slowly  unfolding  panorama  of  our 
story  opens  at  the  house  of  Gaut  Gurley,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Magalloway.  Gaut  reached  home,  on  the  evening  of  the 
logging  bee,  about  sunset ;  and,  having  put  out  his  team,  en- 
tered his  house,  where  he  found  his  wife  alone,  his  daughter 
being  absent  on  a  visit  to  a  neighbor.  Contrary  to  what  might 
have  been  expected,  after  the  favorable  impression  he  had  so 
evidently  made  on  the  settlers  that  day,  and  the  attainment  of  the 
still  more  important  object  with  hira,  the  regaining  of  his  old  fatal 
influence  over  Elwood,  he  appeared  morose  and  dissatisfied. 
Something  had  not  worked  to  his  liking  in  the  complicated 
machinery  of  his  plans,  and  he  showed  his  vexation  so  palpably 
as  soon  to  attract  the  attention  of  his  submissive  but  by  no 
means  unobservant  wife,  who,  after  a  while,  plucked  up  the 
courage  to  remark : 

"  What  is  the  case,  Gaut  ?  Have  you  been  working  your- 
self to  death  for  those  Elwoods,  to-day,  or  has  something  gone 
wrong  with  you,  that  makes  you  look  so  sour  this  evening  ? " 

"  I  have  worked  hard  enough,  God  knows ;  but  that  I  in- 
tended, for  I  had  objects  in  view,  most  of  which  I  think  I  have 
accomphshed,  but " 

"  But  not  all,  I  suppose  you  would  say?" 

"  Well,  yes,  there  is  one  thing  that  has  not  gone  exactly  to 
suit  me,  over  there." 

"What  is  that,  Gaut?" 

"  It  is  of  no  consequence  that  you  should  know  it.     If  I 

(124) 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  125 

should  name  it,  jou  would  not  see  its  bearing  on  my  plans,  I 
presume." 

"  Perhaps  not,  for  I  don't  know  what  your  plans  are,  these 
days.  I  used  to  be  able  to  guess  out  the  objects  you  had  in 
view,  before  you  came  here,  whether  you  told  me  or  not.  But, 
since  you  have  been  in  this  settlement,  I  have  been  at  loss  to 
know  what  you  are  driving  at ;  I  can't  understand  your  move- 
ments at  all." 

"  What  movements  do  you  mean,  woman  ?" 

"  All  of  them ;  but  particularly  those  that  have  to  do  with 
the  Elwoods." 

"  What  is  there  in  my  course  toward  them,  since  they  came 
here,  that  you  can't  understand  ?  " 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you,  Gaut.  When  you  believed  Elwood  to  be 
rich,  I  could  easily  see  that  you  thought  it  would  be  an  object 
to  bring  about  an  acquaintance  between  his  son  and  only  heir, 
and  our  Avis  ;  and  I  knew  you  was,  those  days,  studying  how 
it  could  be  done,  and  I  always  suspected  that  you  in  some 
way  disposed  of  that  picture  of  her  for  the  purpose,  instead  of 
sending  it  to  your  relations,  and " 

"  And  what  ?"  exclaimed  Gaut,  turning  fiercely  on  his  wife. 
"Suspected!  What  business  had  you  to  suspect?  And  you 
told  Avis  what  you  thought,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Not  a  word,  never  one  word ;  for  I  knew  she  was  so 
proud  and  particular,  that,  if  she  niistrusted  any  thing  of  that 
kind  to  have  been  done,  she  would  flounce  in  a  minute.  No,  I 
never  hinted  it  to  her,  or  anybody  else,  and  it  was  guesswork, 
after  all,"  replied  the  abashed  wife,  in  a  deprecating  tone, —  she 
having  been  tempted,  by  the  unusual  mood  which  her  stern 
husband  had  manifested  for  discussing  his  private  affairs  with 
her,  to  venture  to  speak  much  more  freely  than  was  her  wont. 

"  Well,  see  that  you  don't  hint  any  thing  about  that,  nor  any 
thing  else  you  may  take  it  into  your  silly  head  to  guess  about 
my  objects,"  rejoined  the  other,  in  a  somewhat  mollified  tone. 
"  But  now  go  on  with  what  you  were  going  to  say.'* 


126  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

"  Well,  I  could  understand  your  course  before  Elwood  failed ; 
but,  when  he  did,  I  could  see  no  object,  either  in  following  him 
here,  or  having  any  thing  particular  to  do  with  him,  or  any  of 
his  family.  But  you  seized  on  the  first  chance,  after  we  came 
here,  to  court  them,  and  have  followed  it  up ;  first,  in  the  affair 
of  the  young  man  and  Avis,  and  then,  in  drumming  up  the  whole 
settlement  in  getting  up  this  logging  bee  for  the  old  man.  Now, 
Gaut,  you  don't  generally  drive  matters  at  this  rate  without 
something  in  view  that  will  pay ;  and,  as  I  can  see  nothing  to 
be  gained  worth  so  much  pains,  I  don't  understand  it." 

"  I  didn't  suppose  you  did,  and  it  is  generally  of  little  conse- 
quence whether  you  see  through  my  plans  or  not ;  but,  in  this 
case " 

Here  Gaut  suddenly  paused,  rose,  and  took  several  turns 
across  the  room,  evidently  debating  with  himself  how  far  it  was 
policy  to  disclose  his  plans  to  his  wife ;  when,  appearing  to 
make  up  his  mind,  he  again  seated  himself  and  resumed : 

"  Yes,  as  this  is  a  peculiar  case,  and  coming,  perhaps,  in  part 
within  the  range  of  a  woman's  help,  if  she  knows  what  is  want- 
ed, and  one  which  she  may  unintentionally  hurt,  if  she  don't, 
I  suppose  I  must  give  you  some  insight  into  my  movements,  so 
that  you  can  manage  accordingly,  help  when  you  can,  and  do  no 
mischief  when  you  can't ;  as  you  probably  will  do,  for  you  well 
know  the  consequences  of  doing  otherwise." 

"  I  will  do  all  I  can,  if  I  can  understand  what  you  want,  and 
can  see  any  object  in  it,"  meekly  responded  the  woman. 

"  Well,  then,  in  the  first  place,"  resumed  the  other,  "  you 
know  how  many  years  I  slaved  myself,  and  what  risks  I  run,  to 
help  Elwood  make  that  fortune ;  how  he  threw  me  off  with  sim- 
ple wages,  instead  of  the  share  I  always  intended  to  have  for 
such  hard  and  dangerous  services  ;  and  how  he  failed,  like  a  fool, 
before  I  got  it." 

"I  knew  it  all." 

"  Then  you  can  easily  imagine  how  much  it  went  against  my 
gram  to  be  balked  in  that  manner.    At  all  events,  it  did  -,  and 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  127 

I  soon  determined  not  to  give  up  the  game  so,  even  if  that  was 
all.  And  ascertaining  that  Elwood,  by  allowances  made  by  the 
creditors  to  his  wife,  and  sales  of  furniture  which  they  allowed 
the  family  to  retain,  brought  quite  a  little  sum  of  money  into 
the  settlement, —  enough,  at  any  rate,  to  pay  for  hi's  place,  put 
him  well  afloat,  and  make  him  a  man  of  consequence  in  such  a 
new  place,  —  I  soon  made  up  my  mind  on  buying  and  settling, 
for  present  purposes,  here,  too,  as  we  did." 

"  Yes,  but  what  do  you  expect  to  make  here  more  than  in  any 
other  new  country  ?  And  what  can  you  make  out  of  the 
Elwoods,  more  than  any  other  new  settlers  ?" 

"  A  good  deal,  if  all  things  work  to  my  mind.  There  is 
money  to  be  made  here.  I  could  do  well  in  the  fur  business 
alone,  and  at  the  worst.  And,  by  the  aid  of  one  who  could  be 
made  to  favor  my  interests,  there  is  no  telling  what  could  be 
done.  Now,  what  claim  had  I  on  any  other  settler  to  be  that 
one  to  aid  me  ?  On  Elwood  I  had  a  claim  to  help  me  to  prop- 
erty in  turn  ;  and- 1  determined  he  should  do  it.  But  he  must 
first  be  brought  into  the  traces.  He  has  got  out  with  me, 
and  must  be  reconciled  before  I  can  do  much  with  him." 

"  IVell,  I  should  think  he  ought  to  be  by  this  time,  after  what 
you  have  been  doing  for  him,  without  his  asking." 

"  Without  asking  ?  Why,  that  was  just  the  way  to  do  it.  As 
I  calculated,  he  was  taken  by  surprise,  disarmed,  and  yielded ; 
so  that  object  is  accomplished,  as  well  as  making  the  right 
impression  on  the  other  settlers  by  beating  them  at  their  own 
work." 

"  I  begin  to  understand,  now." 

"  You  will  understand  more,  soon  ;  that  was  only  part  of  my 
object." 

"  What  was  the  other  part  ?" 

"  To  insure  the  consummation  of  the  match  between  Avis 
and  young  Elwood,  which  now  seems  in  fair  progress,  but  which 
would  be  liable  to  be  broken  off,  if  his  family  should  continue  to 
be  unfriendly  to  me." 


128  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

"  Why,  that  was  the  thing  I  could  understand  least  of  all. 
The  young  man  is  well  enough,  I  suppose,  but  I  thought  you 
had  looked  to  have  Avis  make  more  of  herself,  and  do  better 
for  us.  She  is  still  young,  and  we  don't  know  what  chances  she 
may  have.  If  she  and  the  young  man  should  keep  on  intimate, 
and  set  their  hearts  on  it,  I  don't  know  that  I  should  oppose  it 
much  ;  but  what  object  we  can  have  in  helping  it  on,  I  can't,  for 
the  life  of  me,  see.  I  have  not  said  a  word  against  it,  because 
I  saw  that  you  were  for  it.  But,  if  I  had  been  governed  by  my 
own  notions,!  should  have  sooner  discouraged  than  helped  it  on," 

"  I  suspected  so ;  and,  for  that  reason,  as  well  as  others,  I 
see  I  must  tell  you  a  secret,  which  the  Elwoods  themselves  don't 
know,  and  which  I  meant  should  never  pass  my  lips  ;  and,  when 
I  tell  it  to  you,  see  that  it  never  passes  yours.  That  young 
man,  Claud  Elwood,  whom  you  think  so  ordinary  a  match,  is 
heir  to  a  large  property.  A  will  is  already  executed  making 
him  so." 

"Is  that  so,  Gaut?" 

"  Yes,  I  have  known  it  for  months.  I  made  the  discovery  be- 
fore I  decided  to  move  here." 

"  It  is  a  wonder  how  you  could  keep  it  from  me." 

"  Humph !  It  is  a  greater  wonder  how  I  came  to  tell  you  at 
all,  and  I  fear  I  shall  yet  repent  it ;  but  things  had  come  to  a 
pass  that  seemed  to  make  it  necessary." 

"  But  who  is  the  man,  and  v/here,  who  is  going  to  give  the 
young  man  such  a  property  ?" 

"  It  is  not  for  you  to  know.  I  have  told  you  enough  for  all 
my  purposes.  And  this  brings  me  back  to  your  first  question, 
when  I  admitted  that  there  was  one  thing  which  had  not  gone 
to  my  liking.  There  was,  indeed,  one  thing  that  disturbed  and 
vexed  me  ;  and  that  was  the  discovery  I  made,  over  there,  to- 
day, that  Elwood's  wife  is  an  enemy  to  me.  I  contrived  all 
ways  to  get  speech  with  her,  but  she  studiously  avoided  giving  me 
a  chance,  nor  was  I  able  once  even  to  catch  her  eye,  that  I  might 
give  her  a  friendly  nod  of  recognition.     I  know  she  never 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  129 

wished  me  about,  in  foiTaer  times,  but  I  then  attributed  her 
coldness  to  the  pride  of  the  rich  over  the  poor.  .  But  I  now 
think  it  was  because  she  hated  me.  I  am  satisfied  she  is  an 
enemy,  at  heart ;  and  will,  for  that  reason,  prove  a  secret  and 
I  fear  dangerous  opposer  to  a  match  which  will  connect  me 
with  her  family,  unless  something  is  done  to  reconcile  her." 

"  How  can  that  be  done  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  you  can  do  something.  We  start,  in  about  a 
.  fortnight,  on  the  fall  hunt,  —  both  the  Elwoods,  myself,  and 
others.  When  we  are  gone,  you  can  go  down  into  that  neigh- 
borhood, get  acquainted  with  some  of  the  women,  and  get  them 
to  call  with  you  on  Mrs.  Elwood ;  and,  if  Avis  could  be  made 
to  go  and  see -her,  so  much  the  better.  She  would  make  an 
impression  without  trying.  You  would  have  to  manage,  but 
how,  I  am  not  now  prepared  to  decide.  I  will  think  of  it,  and 
you  may,  and  we  will  talk  it  over  again.  I  have  told  you  this, 
now,  that  you  might  understand  the  situation  of  affairs ;  and 
the  object,  which  you  will  now  see,  is  worth  playing  for.  And, 
if  we  can  can  carry  this  last  point,  the  last  danger  will  be 
removed,  —  unless  Claud  himself  proves  fickle." 

"  I  guess  there  will  not  be  much  danger  of  that  in  tliis  set- 
tlement. What  girl  is  there  that  he  could  think  of  in  compar- 
ison with  Avis  ?  " 

"  I  think  there  is  none  ;  and  still,  there  is  one  whom  I  would 
rather  he  would  not  see." 

"  Who  can  that  be,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  She  is  the  daughter,  or  is  claimed  to  be,  of  an  old  Indian 
chief,  called  Wenongonet,  who  lives  up  the  lakes,  and  was  once 
a  man  of  some  consequence,  both  with  Indians  and  whites." 

"  An  Indian  girl !     Fudge  ! " 

"  You  might  alter  that  tune,  if  you  should  see  her.  She  is 
white  as  you  are,  and  has,  most  of  the  time,  of  late  years,  lived 
in  some  of  the  old  settlements,  been  schooled,  and  so  on.  I 
saw  her,  soon  after  we  came  here,  with  another  woman,  at  the 
south  end  of  the  lake,  where  she  was  visiting  in  the  family  of 


130 

one  of  the  settlers,  and  I  inquired  her  out,  as  she  appeared  so 
much  above  .the  common  run  of  girls.  But  she  is  courted, 
they  say,  by  a  young  educated  Indian,  called  Tomah,  from 
Connecticut-river  way,  where  I  used  to  see  him.  He  ought  to 
be  able  to  take  care  of  her.  But  hark !  what  was  that  ?  It 
sounded  like  the  trotting  of  some  heavy  horse.     I'll  see." 

So  saying,  Gaut  rose  and  went  to  the  window,  when,  after 
casting  a  searching  look  out  into  the  road,  and  pausing  a  mo- 
ment, in  evident  doubt  and  surprise  at  what  met  his  gaze,  he 
muttered :  "  The  devil  is  always  at  hand  when  you  are  talking 
about  him ;  for  that  must  be  the  very  fellow,  —  Tomah  himself! 
But  what  a  rig-out !     Wife,  look  here." 

The  woman  promptly  came  to  the  window,  when  her  eyes 
were  greeted  with  the  appearance  of  a  smart-looking  and 
jauntily-equipped  young  Indian,  mounted  on  the  back  of  a 
stately,  antlered  moose,  that,  by  some  contrivance  answering 
to  a  bridle,  he  was  about  bringing  to  a  stand  in  the  road,  oppo- 
site to  the  house.  Without  heeding  the  exclamations  of  sur- 
prise and  questions  of  his  wife,  who  had  never  seen  an  animal  of 
the  kind,  Gaut  stepped  out  of  the  door,  and,  after  pausing  long 
enough  to  satisfy  himself  that  he  was  not  known  to  the  other, 
said,  after  the  distant  greeting  customary  among  strangers  had 
been  exchanged : 

"  That  is  a  strange  horse  you  are  travelling  on,  friend." 

"  No  matter  that,  when  he  carry  you  well,"  replied  the  In- 
dian, whose  language  was  a  little  idiomatic,  notwithstanding 
his  education. 

"  Perhaps  not ;  but  I  should  think  he  would  be  a  hard  trotter 
for  most  riders." 

"  Moose  don't  care  for  that :  he  say,  he  carry  you  ten  miles 
an  hour,  you  not  the  one  to  complain  :  if  you  no  hke,  you  no 
ride." 

"  How  did  you  tame  him  to  be  so  manageable  ?  " 

"  Caught  him  a  little  calf,  four  years  ago  ;  trained  him  young 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  131 

to  mind  halter;  then  ox-work,  horse-work.  This  year  ride 
him.     No  trouble,  you  let  him  enough  to  eat." 

"  Where  did  you  catch  him  ?  " 

"  Over  tlie  mountam.  Live  there.  My  name  John  Tomah. 
Been  here  to  hunt  some,  but  not  see  you  before.  Another  man 
live  in  this  house  last  spring." 

"  Yes,  I  am  a  new-comer.  But  I  have  heard  some  of  the 
settlers  speak  of  you,  I  think.  You  are  the  Indian  that  has 
been  to  college  ?  " 

"  Yes,  been  there  some,  but  in  the  woods  more.  Love  to 
hunt,  catch  beaver,  sable,  and  such  things.  Come  here  to  hunt 
now,  soon  as  time.  But  must  have  moose  kept  when  off  hunt- 
ing :  thought  the  man  lived  here  do  that.  May  be  you  keep 
him,  while  I  come  back.     Pay  you,  all  right." 

"  Yes,  if  I  could ;  but  where  could  I  keep  him  ?  He  would 
jump  any  pasture  or  yard  fence  there  is  here,  and  then  run 
away,  would  he  not  ? " 

"  No.  Stay,  after  week  or  two,  and  get  wonted,  same  as 
horse  or  cow.  I  go  to  work,  make  yard,  keep  him  in  a  while, 
and  feed  him  with  grass  or  browse.  I  tend  him  first.  You 
keep  him,  —  you  keep  me,  till  go  hunting  ;  then  get  boy.  Pay 
well,  much  as  you  suit." 

Gaut  Gurley  never  acted  without  a  strong  secret  motive. 
He  had  been  intently  studying  the  young  Indian  during  the 
conversation  just  detailed,  with  a  view  of  forming  an  opinion 
how  far  his  subservience  could  be  secured ;  and,  appearing  to 
become  satisfied  on  this  point,  and  believing  the  first  great 
step  for  making  him  what  was  desired  would  be  accomplished 
by  yielding  to  his  request  gracefully,  however  much  family 
inconvenience  it  might  occasion,  Gaut  now  turned  cordially  to 
him,  and  said : 

"  Yes,  Tomah,  I  will  do  it.  I  like  your  looks,  and  I  will  do 
it  for  you,  but  wouldn't  for  anybody  else.  We  can  get  along 
with  your  animal,  somehow ;  and  you  shall  stay,  too,  till  our 
company  start  on  our  hunt,  and  then  you  shall  go  with  us.     I 


132  GAUT  gueley: 


will  see  that  you  have  fair  play.  I  will  be  your  friend ;  and* 
perhaps  I  may  want  a  good  turn  of  you  some  time." 

"  Like  that ;  go  with  you ;  show  you  how  catch  beaver.  Do 
all  I  can." 

"Very  well;  and  perhaps  I  can  help  you  in  some  way. 
You  have  an  affair  that  you  feel  a  peculiar  interest  in,  with 
somebody  on  the  upper  lake,  and " 

"  You  know  that  ?  "  interrupted  the  startled  but  evidently  not 
displeased  Indian. 

"  Yes,  I  have  heard  something  about  it." 

*'  But  how  you  help  there  ?  " 

*'  O,  I  can  contrive  a  way  for  you  to  make  the  matter  work 
as  you  wish,  if  you  will  only  persevere." 

"  Persevere  ?  Ah,  means  keep  trying.  Yes,  do  that ;  but 
she  don't  talk  right,  now ;  perhaps,  will,  you  help,  then  we  be 
great  friends,  sure." 

The  treaty  being  thus  concluded,  the  gratified  young  Indian 
dismounted,  with  his  rifle  and  pack,  containing  his  blanket, 
hunting-suit,  etc.,  which  he  carried  before  him,  laid  across 
the  shoulder  of  his  novel  steed ;  and,  under  the  guidance  of 
Gaut,  he  led  the  animal  into  the  cow-yard,  where  he  was  tied 
and  fed,  and  the  fence,  already  made  high  to  exclude  the 
wolves,  as  usual  among  first  settlers,  was  topped  out  by  laying 
on  a  few  additional  poles,  so  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
his  escape.  This  being  done,  Gaut  conducted  his  new-found 
friend  into  the  house,  and  introduced  him,  to  his  wife  and  also 
to  his  daughter,  who  had  by  this  time  returned,  as  the  young 
Indian  that  had  been  to  college,  but  still  had  a  liking  for  the 
woods. 

"  I  have  often  thought  I  should  feel  interested  in  seeing  an 
educated  native  of  the  forest,"  remarked  Avis,  after  the  civili- 
ties of  the  introduction  had  been  exchanged.  "  Books,  when 
you  became  able  to  read  and  understand  them,"  she  continued, 
turning  to  the  Indian,  "  books  must  have  opened  a  new  world 
to  you,  and  the  many  new  and  curious  things  you  found  in 


THE   TEAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  133 

^them  must  liave  been  exceedingly  gratifying  to  you,  Mr.  To- 
rn ah." 

"  Yes,  many  curious  things  in  books,"  replied  Tomah,  indif- 
ferently. 

"  And  also  much  valuable  knowledge  ?  "  rejoined  Avis^  inter- 
rogatively. 

"  Valuable  enough  to  some  folks,  suppose,"  replied  the  other, 
with  the  air  of  one  speaking  on  a  subject  in  which  he  felt  no 
particular  interest.  "  Lawyers  make  money ;  preachers  get 
good  pay  for  talking  what  they  learn  in  books  ;  so  doctors." 

"  But  surely,"  persisted  the  former,  who,  though  disappointed 
in  his  replies,  yet  still  expected  to  see,  if  she  could  draw  him 
out,  the  naturally  shrewd  mind  of  the  native  made  brilliant  by 
the  light  of  science,  "  surely  you  consider  an  education  a  good 
thing  for  all,  giving  those  who  receive  it  a  great  advantage 
over  those  who  do  not  ?  " 

"Yes,  education  good  thing,"  responded  Tomah,  his  stolid 
countenance  beginning  to  lighten  up  at  the  idea  which  now 
struck  him  as  involving  the  chief  if  not  the  sole  benefit  of  his 
scientific  acquirements  ;  "  yes,  education  good,  very  good,  some- 
time. Instance  :  I  go  to  Boston  with  my  moose  next  winter ; 
show  him  for  pay,  one,  two  days ;  then  reckon  up  money  — 
add ;  then  reckon  up  expenses  —  subtract ;  tell  how  much  I 
make.  Make  much,  stay ;  make  little,  go  to  other  place.  Yes, 
education  good  thing." 

"  But  I  should  think  you  might  do  better  with  your  educa- 
tion than  you  could  by  following  the  usual  employments  of 
your  kind  of  people,"  resumed  the  other,  still  unwilling  to  see 
the  subject  of  her  scrutiny  fall  so  much  below  her  preconcep- 
tion of  an  educated  Indian.  "  You  say,  lawyers,  preachers, 
and  doctors  make  money  from  the  superiority  which  their  ed- 
ucation has  given  them ;  now,  why  don't  you  profit  by  your 
education,  and  go  into  a  profession  like  one  of  theirs,  and  obtain 
by  it  the  same  wealth  and  position  which  you  see  them  en- 
joying ?  " 

12 


134  GAUT   GURLEY;     ORj^ 

*'  Did  try,"  replied  Tomah,  with  an  evident  effort  to  elevate 
his  language,  and  meet  the  question  candidly.  "  Wlien  I  came 
home  from  the  school,  people  all  say,  Now  you  go  and  live  like 
white  folks,  in  village,  and  study  to  be  doctor,  make  money, 
be  great  man.  So  went ;  study  one  year ;  try  hard  to  like ; 
but  no  use.  Uneasy  all  the  time ;  could  not  keep  down  the 
Indian  in  me ;  he  always  rising  up,  more  every  day,  all  the 
time  drawing  me  away  to  the  woods,  —  pull,  pull,  pull.  I  fight 
against  him ;  put  him  down  little  some  time ;  but  he  soon  up 
again,  stronger  than  ever.  Found  could  not  make  myself  over 
again  ;  must  be  as  first  made ;  so  gave  up ;  left  study  for  the 
woods ;  and  said.  Now  let  Indian  be  Lidian  as  long  as  he  like." 

Satisfied,  or  rather  silenced,  by  Tomah's  reasons.  Avis  turned 
the  conversation  by  asking  him  to  relate  to  her  how  he  caught 
and  tamed  his  moose.  She  found  him  completely  at  home  in 
this  and  other  of  his  adventures  in  the  forest,  which  he  was 
thus  encouraged  to  relate,  and  in  which  he  often  became  a 
graphic  and  interesting  narrator,  and  displayed  the  keen  ob- 
servation of  the  objects  of  nature,  together  with  the  other 
peculiar  qualities  of  his  race,  to  so  much  advantage  that  she 
soon  relinquished  her  favorite  idea  of  ever  finding  a  philoso- 
pher in  an  educated  Indian. 

In  presenting  the  above  picture,  drawn  from  one  of  the  many 
living  prototypes  that  have  fallen  within  our  personal  observa- 
tion, or  come  within  our  knowledge  derived  from  reliable 
sources,  we  had  no  wish  to  disparage  the  praiseworthy  acts  and 
motives  of  those  spirited  and  patriotic  men  who,  like  Moore, 
in  establishing  his  well-known  charity  school,  in  connection  with 
Dartmouth  college,  may  have,  in  times  past,  founded  and  en- 
dowed schools  for  the  education  of  the  natives  of  the  forest ; 
nor  would  we  dampen  the  faith  and  hopes  of  those  philanthro- 
pists who  still  believe  in  the  redemption  of  that  dwindling  race 
by  the  aids  of  science  and  civilization  ;  but  we  confess  our  ina- 
bility to  perceive  any  general  results,  flowing  from  the  attempts 
of  that  character,  at  all  adequate  to  the  pains  and  outlay  be- 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  135 

stowed  on  the  experiment.  And  we  think  we  cannot  be  alone 
in  this  opinion.  We  believe  that  those  results,  when  gathered 
up  so  that  all  their  meagreness  could  be  seen,  have  sadly  dis- 
appointed public  expectations ;  that  this  once  favorite  object 
and  theory,  of  elevating  and  benefiting  the  red  man  by  taking 
him  from  his  native  woods  and  immuring  him  in  the  school- 
room, has  been,  in  the  great  majority  of  the  cases,  a  futile  one ; 
and  that  whole '  system,  indeed,  can  now  be  regarded  as  but 
little  less  than  a  magnificent  failure. 

There  have  been,  it  is  true,  some  brilliant  exceptions  to  the 
application  of  our  remarks,  such  as  may  be  found  in  the  pious 
and  comparatively  learned  Samson  Occom,  the  noted  Indian 
preacher  of  the  times  of  the  Pilgrims ;  in  the  eloquent  Ojibway 
chief  of  our  own  times,  and  a  few  others ;  as  well  as  in  the 
person  we  have  already  introduced  into  this  work,  the  intelli- 
gent and  beautiful  Fluella.  But  only  as  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule,  we  fear,  can  we  fairly  regard  them,  —  for,  where 
there  is  one  Occom,  there  are  probably  ten  Tomahs. 

Education,  or  so  much  of  it  as  he  has  the  patience  and 
ability'to  acquire,  seems  often  to  unsettle  and  confuse  the  mind 
of  the  red  man ;  for,  while  his  old  notions  and  traditions  are 
disturbed  or  swept  away  by  it,  he  fails  of  grasping  and  digest- 
ing the  new  ones  which  science  and  civilization  present  to  his 
mind ;  and  he  falters  and  gropes,  like  an  owl  in  the  too  strong 
light  of  the  unaccustomed  sun.  In  his  natural  condition,  he  can 
at  least  realize  the  happy  picture  which  the  poet  has  drawn  of 
him : 

"Lo,  the  poor  Indian  !  whose  untutored  mind 
Sees  God  in  clouds,  or  hears  him  in  the  wind : 
His  soul  proud  science  never  taught  to  stray 
Far  as  the  solar  walk  or  milky  way ; 
Yet  simple  nature  to  his  hope  has  given, 
Behind  the  cloud-topt  hill,  an  humbler  heaven, 
Some  safer  world  in  depth  of  wood  embraced ; 
Some  happier  island  in  the  wat'ry  waste, 


136  GAUT   GURLEY. 

Where  slaves  once  more  their  native  land  behold, 

No  fiends  torment,  no  Christian  thirsts  for  gold. 

To  be  content 's  his  natural  desire  ; 

He  asks  no  angel's  wings,  no  seraph's  fire ; 

But  thinks,  admitted  to  that  equal  sky, 

His  faithful  dog  shall  bear  him  company." 

But  now,  in  his  new  and  anomalous  position,  even  this  happi- 
ness and  this  content  is  taken  away,  while  he  is  unable  to 
embrace  an  adequate  substitute.  His  old  faith  is  shaken,  but 
no  new  one  is  established.  Before,  he  could  see  God  in  clouds 
or  hear  him  in  the  wind ;  but  now  he  can  scarcely  see  God  in 
any  thinj^.  His  physical  system,  in  the  mean  while,  deprived 
as  it  is  of  the  forest  atmosphere,  in  which  it  was  alone  fitted  to 
exist  and  reach  its  greatest  perfection,  suffers  even  more  than 
his  mental  one.  And  his  whole  man,  both  mental  and  physical, 
begins  to  degenerate,  and  soon  dwindles  into  insignificance. 
Yes,  it  is  only  in  his  native  forests  that  the  Indian  appears  in 
his  wild  and  peculiar  dignity  of  character.  There  only  can  he 
become  a  being  of  romance,  and  there  only  a  hero.  And  there, 
in  conclusion,  we  would  say,  in  view  of  the  unsatisfactory  re- 
sults of  the  experiments  made  to  elevate  him  by  any  of  the 
methods  yet  adopted, — there  we  would  let  him  remain. 

But  we  must  now  on  with  our  tale,  the  main  incidents   of 
"which  we  have  only  foreshadowed,  not  touched. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

"Hearts  will  be  prophets  still.'* 

The  week  succeeding  the  logging  bee  was  an  extremely 
busy  one  with  the  Elwoods,  who  still  had  a  heavy  task  to  per- 
form on  their  new  field,  before  it  could  be  considered  properly 
cleared  or  fitted  for  seeding  and  harrowing.  Sixty  days  before, 
that  field  was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  primitive  forest, 
standing  in  its  native  majesty,  a  mountain  mass  of  green  vigor 
and  sturdy  life,  and  as  seemingly  invincible  against  the  assaults 
of  man  as  it  had  been  against  those  of  the  elements  whose 
fury  it  had  so  long  withstood.  But  the  busy  and  fatal  axe  had 
done  its  work.  That  towering  forest  had  been  laid  prostrate 
with  the  earth,  and  the  first  process  of  the  Herculean  task  of 
converting  the  forest  into  the  field  had  been  completed.  The 
second  and  third  process,  also,  in  the  burning  of  the  slash  and 
the  gathering  the  trunks  of  the  trees  into  log-heaps,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  been  in  turn  successfully  accomplished.  But  the 
fourth  and  last  process  still  remained  to  be  performed.  Those 
unseemly  log-heaps,  cumbering  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the 
field,  must  be  disposed  of,  to  complete  the  work.  This  was 
now  the  first  task  of  the  Elwoods,  and  time  pressed  for  its 
speedy  execution.  Accordingly,  the  next  morning  after  the 
bee,  they  sallied  out,  each  with  a  blazing  brand  in  his  hand, 
and  commenced  the  work  of  firing  the  piles,  —  a  work  which, 
unlike  that  of  firing  a  combustible  and  readily  catching  slash, 
required  not  only  considerable  time,  but  often  the  exercise  of 
much  skill  and  patience.  But  they  steadily  persevered,  and, 
before  sunset,  had  the  gratification  of  beholding  every  one  of 
those  many  scores  of  huge  log-piles,  that  thickly  dotted  the 
12*  ri37) 


138 

ground,  clearly  within  the  grasp  of  the  devouring  element;  and 
afterwards  of  seeing  that  grasp  grow  stronger  and  stronger  on 
the  solid  material  on  which  it  had  securely  fastened,  till,  to  the 
eye  of  fancy,  the  dark  old  forest  seemed  by  day  to  be  reproduced 
in  the  numerous,  thickly-set  columns  of  smoke  that  shot  upward 
and  spread  out  into  over-arching  canopies  above,  while,  with 
the  gathering  darkness  of  the  night,  that  forest  seemed  gradu- 
ally to  take  the  form  of  a  distant  burning  city  in  the  manifold 
tapering  pillars  of  fire  which  everywhere  rose  from  the  field, 
fiercely  illuminating  the  dark  and  sombre  wood-wall  of  the 
surrounding  forest,  and  dimly  glimmering  over  the  sleeping 
waters  of  river  and  lake  beyond. 

They  had  now  made  the  fire  their  servant,  and  got  it  safely 
at  work  for  them ;  but  that  servant,  to  insure  its  continued 
and  profitable  action,  must  be  constantly  fed  and  fostered.  The 
logs,  becoming  by  the  action  of  the  fire  partially  consumed,  and, 
by  thus  losing  their  contact  with  each  other,  ceasing  to  burn, 
required,  every  few  hours,  to  be  rolled  together,  adjusted,  and 
repacked;  when,  being  already  thoroughly  heated  and  still 
partly  on  fire,  they  would  soon  burst  out  again  into  a  brisk 
blaze.  This  tending  and  re-packing  of  the  piles  demanded, 
for  many  of  the  succeeding  days,  the  constant  attention  of  the 
Elwoods ;  who,  going  out  early  each  morning,  and  keeping  up 
their  rounds  at  short  intervals  through  the  day  and  to  a  late 
hour  at  night,  assiduously  pursued  their  object,  till  they  had  seen 
every  log-heap  disappear  from  the  field,  and  the  last  step  of 
their  severe  task  fully  accomplished. 

Few  of  those  who  live  in  cities,  villages,  or  other  places 
than  those  where  agricultural  pursuits  prevail ;  few  of  those, 
indeed,  who  have  been  tillers  only  of  the  subdued  and  time- 
miellowed  soils  of  the  old  States  and  countries,  have  any  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  immense  amount  of  hard  labor  required 
to  clear  off  the  primitive  forest,  and  prepare  the  land  for  the 
first  crop ;  nor  have  they,  consequently,  any  just  appreciation 
of  the  degree  of  resolution,  energy,  and  endurance  necessary  to 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  139 

insure  continued  perseverance  in  subduing  one  piece  of  forest- 
land  after  another,  till  a  considerable  opening  is  effected.  It 
is  the  labor  of  one  man's  life  to  clear  up  a  new  farm ;  and  few 
there  be,  among  the  multitudes  found  making  the  attempt,  who 
have  the  sustaining  will  and  resolution  —  even  if  the  pecuniary 
ability  is  not  wanting  —  to  accomplish  that  formidable  achieve- 
ment. Probably  not  one  in  five  of  all  the  first  pioneer  settlers 
of  a  new  country  ever  remain  to  become  its  permanent  settlers. 
The  first  set  of  emigrants,  or  pioneers,  are  seen  beginning  with 
great  resolution  and  energy,  and  persevering  unfalteringly  till 
the  usual  ten-acre  lot  is  cleared,  the  log-house  thrown  up,  and 
the  settlement  of  the  family  effected.  Another  piece  of  forest 
is  the  next  year  attacked,  but  with  a  far  less  determined  will, 
and  the  clearing  prosecuted  with  a  proportionate  lack  of  energy 
and  resolution  ;  and  the  job,  after  being  suffered  to  linger  along 
for  months  beyond  the  usual  period  for  completion,  is  finally 
finished.  But,  in  view  of  the  hard  labors  and  prolonged  strug- 
gles they  have  experienced  in  their  two  former  trials  for  con- 
quering the  wilderness,  they  too  often  now  falter  and  hesitate 
at  a  third  attempt.  Perhaps  the  lack  of  means  to  hire  that 
help,  which  would  make  the  toil  more  endurable,  comes  also 
into  the  case ;  and  the  result  is  that  no  new  clearing  is  begun. 
They  live  along  a  while  as  they  are ;  but,  for  want  of  the  first 
crops  of  the  newly-cleared  land  and  the  usual  accessions  to 
their  older  fields,  they  soon  find  themselves  on  the  retrograde, 
and  finally  sell  out  to  a  new  set  of  incoming  settlers,  who  in 
their  turn  begin  with  fresh  vigor,  and  with  more  means  gener- 
ally for  prosecuting  advantageously  the  work  which  had  dis- 
couraged or  worn  out  their  predecessors.  But  even  of  this 
•second  set  a  large  proportion  fail  to  succeed,  and,  like  the 
former,  eventually  yield  their  places  to  more  enterprising  and 
able  men,  who,  with  those  of  the  two  former  sets  of  settlers 
that  had  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  and  retaining 
their  places,  now  join  in  making  up  the  permanent  settlers  of 
the  country. 


140  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

Such  is  generally  the  history  of  the  early  settlement  of  every 
new  country.  Those  who  have  endured  the  most  hardship, 
encountered  the  greatest  difficulties,  and  performed  the  hardest 
labor,  do  not  generally  reap  the  reward  which  might  eventually 
crown  their  toils,  but  leave  that  reward  to  be  enjoyed  by  those 
to  whom  such  hardships  and  toils  are  comparatively  unknown. 
This  seems  hard  and  unjust ;  but,  from  the  unequal  conditions 
and  characters  of  men,  it  is  doubtless  a  necessary  state  of 
things,  and  one  which,  though  it  may  occasionally  be  somewhat 
modified,  will  never,  probably,  as  a  general  thing,  be  very 
essentially  altered. 

The  Elwoods,  having  now  thus  brought  the  labors  of  clearing 
to  a  successful  close,  next  proceeded  to  the  lighter  and  more 
cleanly  task  of  taking  the  incipient  step  towards  securing  the 
ever-important  first  crop  which  was  to  reward  them,  in  a  good 
part,  for  their  arduous  toils.  Accordingly,  the  previously 
engaged  supply  of  winter  wheat  intended  for  seed  was  brought 
home,  the  requisite  help  and  ox-work  enlisted,  the  seed  sown, 
and  the  harrows  and  hoes  put  in  motion  to  insure  its  lodgment 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  broken  soil.  And,  by  the  end  of 
the  second  day  from  its  commencement,  this  task  was  also  com- 
pleted, leaving  our  two  persevering  settlers  only  the  work  of 
gathering  in  the  small  crops  of  grain  and  potatoes  they  had 
succeeded  in  raising  on  their  older  grounds,  to  be  performed 
before  leaving  home  on  the  contemplated  trapping  and  hunting 
expedition ;  the  appointed  day  for  which  was  still  sufficiently 
distant  to  allow  them  abundant  time  to  do  this,  and  also  to  make 
all  other  of  the  necessary  arrangements  and  preparations  for 
that,  to  them,  novel  and  interesting  event. 

But  how,  in  the  meanwhile,  stood  that  domestic  drama  of 
love  and  its  entanglements,  which  was  destined  to  be  deeply 
interwoven  with  the  other  principal  incidents  of  this  singular 
story  ?  All  on  the  surface  seemed  as  bright  and  unruffled  as 
the  halcyon  waters  of  the  sleeping  ocean  before  the  days  of 
storm  have  come  to  move  and  vex  it.     But  how  was  it  within 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  141 

the  Tail  of  the  heart  and  teeming  mind,  where  the  currents  and 
counter-currents  of  that  subtle  but  powerful  passion  flow  and 
clash  unseen,  often  gaining  their  full  height  and  unmasterable 
strength  before  any  event  shall  occur  to  betray  their  existence 
to  the  public.     How  was  it  there  ?     We  shall  see. 

While  the  events  we  have  described  in  the  last  foregoing 
chapters  were  transpiring,  Mrs.  Elwood  held  her  peace,  studi- 
ously avoiding  all  allusion  to  what  still  constituted  the  burden 
of  her  mind,  —  the  thickening  intimacy  between  her  family  and 
the  Gurleys ;  but,  though  she  was  silent  on  the  subject,  yet  her 
heart  was  not  any  the  less  sad,  nor  her  thoughts  any  the  less 
busy.  She  had  been  made  aware  that  a  reconciliation  had 
taken  place  between  her  husband  and  Gaut  Gurley ;  and  she 
had  seen  how  artfully  the  latter  had  brought  it  about,  and  re- 
gained his  old  fatal  influence  over  the  former.  She  believed 
she  fully  understood  the  motives  which  actuated  Gaut  in  all 
these  movements.  And  she  now  looked  on  in  helpless  anguish 
of  heart  to  see  the  toils  thus  drawn  tighter  and  tighter  around 
the  unconscious  victims,  and  those  victims,  too,  her  husband  and 
son,  with  whose  happiness  and  welfare  her  own  was  indissolubly 
connected.  She  saw  it  with  anguish,  because  her  feelings  never 
for  once  were  permitted  even  the  alleviation  of  a  doubt  that  it 
could  result  in  aught  else  than  evil  to  her  family.  She  could 
not  reason  herself  into  any  belief  of  Gaut's  reformation.  She 
felt  his  black  heart  constantly  throwing  its  shadow  on  to  her 
own ;  she  felt  this,  but  could  not  give  to  others,  nor  perhaps 
even  to  herself,  what  might  be  deemed  a  satisfactory  reason  for 
her  impressions  and  forebodings ;  for  in  her  was  exemplified  the 
words  of  the  poet : 

'  The  mind  is  capable  to  show 
Thoughts  of  so  dim  a  feature, 
That  consciousness  can  only  know 
Their  presence  and  their  nature." 

Such  thoughts  were  hers, — dim  and  flitting,  indeed;  but  she 
felt  conscious  of  their  continued  presence,  of  their  general 


142  GAUT  gueley;   or, 

character,  and  deeply  conscious  what  they  portended.  They 
took  one  shape,  moved  in  one  course,  and  all  pointed  one 
way,  and  that  was  to  evil,  —  some  great  impending  evil  to  the 
two  objects  of  her  love  and  solicitude. 

"  But  is  there  no  hope  ?  "  she  murmured  aloud,  in  the  full- 
ness of  her  heart,  while  deeply  pondering  the  matter,  one  day, 
as  she  sat  alone  at  her  open  window,  looking  out  on  her  hus- 
band and  son  engaged  in  their  harvest,  which  she  knew  they 
were  hurrying  on  to  a  close,  before  leaving  her  on  the  contem- 
plated long,  and  perhaps  perilous,  expedition  into  the  wilder- 
ness, —  a  circumstance  that  doubtless  caused  the  subject,  in  the 
thus  awakened  state  of  her  anxieties,  to  weigh  at  this  time 
peculiarly  heavy  on  her  mind.  "  Is  there  no  hope,"  she  repeated, 
with  a  sigh,  "  that  this  impending  calamity  may  in  some  part 
be  averted  ?  Must  they  both  be  sacrificed  ?  Must  the  faults 
of  the  erring  father  be  visited  on  the  innocent  son,  who  had 
become  the  last  hope  of  the  mother's  heart  ?  Kind  Heaven  ! 
may  not  that  son,  at  least,  be  delivered  from  the  web  of  toils 
into  which  he  has  so  strangely  fallen,  and  yet  be  saved? 
Grant,  O  grant  that  hope  —  that  one  ray  of  hope  —  in  this  my 
hour  of  darkness  !  " 

But  what  sound  was  that  which  now  fell  upon  her  ear,  as  if 
responsive  to  her  ejaculation  ?  It  was  a  light  tap  or  two  on 
the  door,  which,  after  the  customary  bidding  of  walh  in  had 
been  pronounced,  was  gently  opened,  when  a  young  female  of 
extreme  beauty  and  lovehness  entered.  Mrs.  Elwood  involun- 
tarily rose,  and  stood  a  moment,  mute  with  surprise,  in  the 
unexpected  presence.  Soon  recovering,  however,  she  invited 
the  fair  stranger  to  a  seat,  still  deeply  wondering  who  she 
could  be  and  what  had  occasioned  her  visit. 

"  You  are  the  good  woman  of  the  house  ?  —  the  wife  of  the 
new  settler  ?  —  the  mother  of  Mr.  Claud  Elwood  ?  "  asked  the 
stranger  girl,  pausing  between  each  interrogatory,  till  she  had 
received  an  afiii^mative  nod  from  Mrs.  Elwood. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  latter  kindly,  but  with  an  air  of  increasing 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  143 

curiosity,  "  yes,  I  am  Mrs.  Elwood.  Would  you  like  to  see  my 
son,  Claud?" 

"  No,"  rejoined  tlie  girl,  in  the  same  subdued  and  musical 
accents.  "  No,  it  was  not  liim,  but  you,  I  came  to  see  and  speak 
with,"  she  added,  carefully,  withdrawing  a  screening  handker- 
chief from  a  light  parcel  she  bore  in  her  hand,  and  displaying 
a  small  work-basket  of  exquisite  make,  which,  advancing  with 
hesitating  steps,  she  presented  to  the  other,  as  she  resumed  : 

"  I  came  with  this,  good  lady,  to  see  if  you  would  be  suited 
to  have  such  an  article  ?  " 

"  It  is  Tcry  pretty,"  said  Mrs.  Elwood,  examining  the  work' 
manship  with  admiration, "  beautiful,  indeed.    Did  you  make  it  ?  " 

"  I  did,  lady,"  said  the  other  modestly. 

"  Well,  it  certainly  does  great  credit  to  your  skill  and  taste," 
rejoined  the  other.  "  I  should,  of  course,  be  pleased  to  own  it, 
but  I  have  little  money  to  pay  for  such  things.  You  ought  to 
sell  it  for  quite  a  sum." 

"  But  I  do  not  wish  to  sell  it,"  responded  the  girl,  looking  up 
to  Mrs.  Elwood  with  an  expostulating  and  wounded  expression. 
"  I  do  not  wish  to  take  money  for  it ;  but  hoped  you  would  like 
it  well  enough  to  accept  it  for  a  gift,  —  a  small  token." 

"  O,  I  should,"  said  Mrs.  Elwood,  "  if  I  was  entitled  to  any 
such  present ;  but  what  have  I  ever  done  to  deserve  it  of  you  ? 
I  do  not  even  know  who  you  are,  kind  stranger." 

"  They  call  me  Fluella,"  responded  the  other,  the  blood 
slightly  suffusing  her  fair,  rounded  cheek.  "  Toic  have  not 
seen  me,  I  know.  You  have  not  done  me  the  great  favor  that 
brings  my  gratitude.     It  is  your  brave  son  that  has  done  both." 

"  O,  I  understand  now,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Elwood.  "  You  are 
the  chief's  daughter,  whom  Claud  and  Mr.  Phillips  helped  out 
of  a  difficulty  and  danger  on  the  rapids,  some  time  since.  But 
your  token  should  be  given  to  Claud,  should  it  not  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  unsuitable,  too  much,"  quickly  replied  the 
maiden,  in  a  low,  hurried  tone.  "I  could  not  do  a  thing  like 
that.     But  if  you  would  accept  such  a  small  thing  ?  " 


144  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

"  I  cannot  but  appreciate  and  honor  jour  delicacy,"  returned 
Mrs.  Elwood,  with  a  look  of  mingled  admiration  and  respect. 
"  I  think  you  must  be  an  excellent  girl ;  and  I  will  accept  your 
present,  —  yes,  thankfully,  —  and  never  forget  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  bestowed." 

"  Your  words  are  in  my  heart,  lady.  I  came,  feeling  much 
doubtful ;  I  return,  much  happy,"  said  the  maiden,  rising  to 
depart. 

"  Do  not  go  yet,"  interposed  the  matron,  who  was  beginning 
to  feel  a  lively  interest  in  the  other  ;  "  do  not  go  yet.  Claud 
should  know  you  are  here.  I  will  call  him,"  she  added,  start- 
ing for  the  door. 

"  O  no,  no,  —  do  not,  do  not.  He  would  not  wish  to  be 
troubled  by  one  like  me,"  hurriedly  entreated  the  maiden,  with 
a  look  of  alarmed  delicacy. 

"  O,  you  are  mistaken.  He  would  be  pleased  to  see  you,  and 
expect  to  be  called,"  said  Mrs.  Elwood,  in  a  tone  of  gentle 
remonstrance,  while  pausing  at  the  unexpected  objection.  "  But 
it  is  unnecessary ;  for  I  see  that  he  is  already  coming,  and  in  a 
moment  will  be  here,"  she  added,  glancing  out  of  the  window. 

Having  made  the  announcement,  she  turned  encouragingly 
to  the  maiden,  to  reassure  her,  believing  her  request  that  Claud 
should  not  be  called  in  proceeded  entirely  from  over-diffidence. 
But  one  glance  of  her  quick  and  searching  eye  was  sufficient 
to  apprise  the  former  that  there  was  a  deeper  cause  for  those 
tender  alarms.  The  cheeks  of  the  beautiful  girl  were  deeply 
suffiised  with  crimson,  her  bosom  was  heaving  wildly,  and  her 
whole  frame  was  trembling  like  an  aspen.  As  her  eyes  met 
the  surprised  gaze  of  the  matron,  she  became  conscious  that  her 
looks  had  betrayed  the  secret  she  was  the  most  anxious  to  con- 
ceal ;  and  she  cast  an  imploring  look  on  the  face  of  the  other, 
as  if  to  entreat  the  mercy  of  shielding  the  weakness. 

Mrs.  Elwood  understood  the  silent  appeal ;  and,  approaching 
and  laying  her  hand  gently  on  the  shoulder  of  the  other,  said, 
in  a  low,  kindly  tone  : 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  145 

"  Have  no  fears.  You  have  made  a  friend  of  me." 
The  girl  silently  removed  the  hand,  brought  it  to  her  lips, 
and,  as  a  bright  tear-drop  fell  upon  it,  kissed  it  eagerly.  The 
two  then  separated,  and  resumed  their  respective  seats,  to  com- 
pose themselves  before  the  expected  entrance  should  be  made. 
In  a  few  moments  Claud  carelessly  entered  the  house  ;  but 
stopped  short  in  surprise,  at  the  threshold,  on  so  unexpectedly 
seeing  the  well-remembered  face  and  form  of  the  heroine  of 
his  late  romantic  adventure  on  the  rapids,  in  the  room  with 
his  mother.  But,  almost  instantly  recovering  his  usual  manner, 
he  gallantly  advanced  to  the  trembling  maiden,  took  her  by  the 
hand,  and  respectfully  inquired  about  her  welfare,  and  pleas- 
antly adverted  to  the  singular  circumstances  under  which  they 
had  become  acquainted.  Soon  becoming  in  a  good  measure 
assured,  by  a  reception  so  much  more  condescending  and  cor- 
dial than  she  had  dared  hope  for,  from  one  whose  image  she 
had  been  cherishing  as  that  of  some  superior  being,  the  grate- 
ful and  happy  girl,  now  forgetful  of  her  wish  to  depart,  grad- 
ually regained  her  natural  ease  and  vivacity,  and  sustained  her 
part  in  the  general  conversation  that  now  ensued,  with  an 
intelligence  and  instinctive  refinement  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion that  equally  charmed  and  surprised  her  listeners.  She 
at  length,  however,  rose  to  depart,  observing  that  her  father, 
who  was  in  waiting  for  her  at  the  landing,  would  chide  her  for 
her  long  delay ;  when  Claud  offered  to  attend  her  to  the  lake. 
To  this  she  at  first  objected  ;  but,  on  Claud's  assurance  that  he 
should  be  pleased  with  the  walk,  and  that  it  would  afford  him 
the  opportunity  of  meeting  her  father,  whom  he  had  a  curiosity 
to  see,  she  blushingly  assented,  and  the  couple  sociably  took 
their  way  to  the  lake  together,  leaving  Mrs.  Elwood  deeply 
revolving  in  her  mind  the  new  train  of  thoughts  that  had  been 
awakened  by  the  remarkable  personal  beauty  and  evident  rare 
qualities  of  her  fair  visitor,  and  the  discovery  of  the  state  of 
her  feelings,  —  thoughts  which  the  matron  laid  up  in  her  heart, 
but  forbade  her  tongue  to  utter. 

13 


146  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

On  reaching  the  landing,  Fluella  drew  a  bone  whistle  from 
her  pocket,  and  blew  a  blast  so  loud  and  shrill  that  the  sound 
seemed  to  penetrate  the  inmost  depths  of  the  surrounding  for- 
est. The  next  moment  a  similar  sound  rose  in  response  from 
the  woods,  apparently  about  half  a  mile  distant,  on  the  right. 

"  He  has  heard  me  ;  that  was  my  father's  whistle.  He  has 
been  taking  a  short  bout  in  the  woods  with  his  rifle,  but  will 
now  soon  be  here.  And  Mr.  Elwood  will  wait,  I  know,  for 
the  chief  wishes  to  thank  the  brave  that  rescued  his  daughter," 
said  the  maiden,  looking  inquiringly  at  Claud. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Claud,  "  yes,  certainly ;  for,  even  without 
company,  I  am  never  tired  of  standing  on  this  commanding 
point,  and  locking  out  on  this  beautiful  lake  and  its  surrounding 
scenery. 

"  Ah  !  then  you  think,  Mr.  Elwood,"  exclaimed  Fluella,  with 
a  countenance  sparkling  with  animation,  "  you  think  of  our 
woods  life,  like  one  of  your  great  writers,  whom  I  have  read  to 
remember,  and  who  so  prettily  says  : 

'  And  this  our  life,  exempt  from  piibhc  haunt, 
Finds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  running  brooks, 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  every  thing.' 

One  would  almost  think  this  wise  writer  must  be  one  of 
my  people,  he  describes  our  ways  of  becoming  instructed  so 
truly  ;  for  we  Indians,  Mr.  Elwood,  read  few  other  books  than 
those  we  see  opened  to  us  on  the  face  of  nature,  tr  hear  or 
read  few  other  sermons  than  those  in  the  outspread  pages  of 
the  bright  lake,  the  green  woods,  and  the  grand  mountain." 

"  You  Indians  !  "  said  Elwood,  looking  at  the  other  with  a 
playful  yet  half-chiding  expression.  "  Why,  Fluella,  should  a 
stranger  look  at  your  fair  skin,  hear  you  conversing  so  well  in 
our  language,  and  quoting  so  appropriately  from  our  books,  he 
would  hardly  believe  you  an  Indian,  I  think,  imless  you  told 
him." 

"  Then  I  would  tell  him,  Mr.  Elwood,"  responded  the  maiden, 
with  dignity,  and  a  scarcely  perceptible  spice  of  offended  pride 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  147 

in  her  manner.  "  I  am  one,  —  on  my  father's  side,  at  least, 
■wholly-  so  ;  and,  for  the  first  ten  or  twelve  years  of  my  life,  was 
but  a  child  of  the  woods  and  the  wigwam  ;  and  I  will  never 
shame  at  my  origin,  so  far  as  that  matters." 

"  But  you  did  not  learn  to  read  in  the  wigwam,  Fluella  ? ' 
said  ClaujJ,  inquiringly. 

"  No,"  replied  the  girl ;  the  proud  air  she  had  assumed,  while 
speaking  of  her  origin,  quickly  subsiding  into  one  of  meekness. 
No  ;  but  I  supposed  that  Mr.  Phillips,  who  knows,  might  have 
told  you  that,  for  many  years  past,  I  have  lived  much  with 
your  people,  learned  their  ways,  been  to  their  schools,  and 
read  their  books.  And,  in  owning  my  natural  red  father,  may 
be  I  should  have  also  said,  I  have  a  good  white  father,  who  has 
done  every  thing  for  the  poor,  ignorant,  Indian  girl." 

"  But  where  does  this  good  and  generous  white  father  live, 
and  what  is  his  name  ?  "  asked  Claud. 

"  He  lives  near  the  seaside  city,"  answered  she,  demurely ; 
"  I  may  say  so  far.  But  I  do  not  name  him,  ever.  "We  think 
it  not  best.  But,  if  he  comes  here  sometime,  as  he  may,  you 
shall  see  him,  Mr.  Elwood." 

At  this  point  of  the  dialogue,  the  attention  of  its  participants 
was  aiTcsted  by  the  sound  of  breaking  twigs  and  other  indi- 
cations of  the  near  approach  of  some  one  from  the  forest ;  and, 
the  next  moment,  emerging  through  the  thick  underbrush, 
which  he  parted  by  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle  as  he  made  his  way, 
the  expected  visitant  came  into  view.  Seemingly  unmindful 
of  the  presence  of  others  near  by,  or  of  the  curious  and  scru- 
tinizing gaze  of  Claud,  he  advanced  with  a  firm,  elastic  tread, 
and  stately  bearing,  exhibiting  a  strong,  erect  frame,  a  large, 
intellectual  head,  and  handsomely  moulded  features,  with  a 
countenance  of  a  grave  and  thoughtful  cast,  but  now  and  then 
enlivened  by  the  keenly-glancing  black  eyes  by  which  it  was 
particularly  distinguished.  With  the  exception  of  moccasins 
and  wampum  belt,  he  was  garbed  in  a  good  English  dress ;  and, 
so  far  as  his  exterior  was  in  question,  might  have  easily  been 


148  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

mistaken,  at  a  little  distance,  for  some  amateur  hunter  from  the 
cities ;  while,  from  the  vigor  of  his  movements,  and  other  gen- 
eral appearance,  he  might  have  equally  well  passed  for  a  man 
of  the  middle  age,  had  not  the  frosts  of  time,  which  were  pro- 
fusely sprinkled  over  his  temples,  and  other  visible  parts  of  his 
head,  betrayed  the  secret  of  his  advanced  age. 

"  My  daughter  is  not  alone,"  he  said,  in  very  fair  English 
utterance,  coming  to  a  stand  ten  or  twelve  yards  distant  from 
the  young  couple. 

"  No,"  promptly  replied  the  daughter,  assuming  the  dignified 
tone  and  attitude  usual  among  those  engaged  in  the  ceremo- 
nies of  some  formal  presentation,  or  public  introduction.  "  No, 
but  my  father  will  be  pleased  to  learn  that  this  is  the  Mr.  Claud 
Elwood,  who  did  your  daughter  such  good  service  in  her 
dangers  on  the  rapids,  and  whom  she  has  now  conducted  here, 
that  he  might  have  the  opportunity  to  see  the  chief,  and  receive 
the  thanks  which  it  is  more  fitting  for  the  father  than  the 
daughter  to  bestow." 

"  My  daughter's  words  are  good,"  said  the  chief.  "  The 
young  brave  has  our  thanks  to  last ;  but  the  Red  Man's  thanks 
are  acted,  the  White  Man's  spoken.  Does  the  young  man 
understand  the  creed  of  our  people  ?  " 

Fluella  looked  at  Claud  as  if  he  was  the  one  to  answer  the 
question,  and  he  accordingly  remarked : 

"  I  have  ever  heard,  chief,  that  your  people  always  notice 
a  benefit  done  to  them,  and  that  he  who  does  them  one  secures 
their  lasting  gratitude." 

"  The  young  man,"  rejoined  the  chief,  considerately,  "  has 
heard  words  that  make,  sometime,  too  much ;  they  make  true, 
the  good-doer  doing  no  wrong  to  us  after.  But  when  he  takes 
advantage  of  our  gratitude  he  wipes  out  the  debt ;  he  does 
more,  —  he  stands  to  be  punished  like  one  an  enemy  always." 

The  maiden  here  cast  an  uneasy  glance  at  Claud,  and  a 
deprecating  one  at  iier  father,  at  the  unnecessary  caution,  as 
she  believed  it,  which  she  perceived  the  latter  intended  to  con- 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  149 

vej  by  Ms  words  to  tlie  former.  But,  to  her  relief,  Claud  did 
not  appear  as  if  he  thought  the  remarks  had  any  appHcation  to 
himself,  for  he  frankly  responded : 

"  Your  distinction  is  a  just  one,  chief.  Your  views  about 
these  matters  are  my  own  views.  Your  creed  is  a  good  creed, 
so  far  as  the  remembrance  of  benefits  is  concerned ;  and  I  wish 
I  could  see  it  observed  as  generally  among  my  people  as  I 
believe  it  to  be  among  yours.  But,  chief,  your  daughter  makes 
too  much  out  of  my  assistance,  the  other  day.  I  did  only  a 
common  duty,  —  what  I  should  have  been  a  coward  not  to  have 
done.  I  have  no  claira  for  any  particular  gratitude  from  her 
or  you." 

"  Our  gratitude  was  strong  before ;.  the  young  man  now 
makes  stronger,"  remarked  the-other,  exchanging  appreciating 
glances  with  his  daughter. 

"  No,  chief,"  resumed  Claud,  "  I  did  not  come  here  to  boast 
of  that  small  service,  nor  claim  any  thanks  for  it,  but  to  see  a 
sagamore,  who  could  give  me  the  knowledge  of  the  Red  Man 
which  I  would  like  to  possess  ;  to  see  one  who,  in  times  gone 
by,  was  as  a  king  in  this  lake  country.  His  own  history,  and 
that  of  his  people  especially,  I  would  like  to  hear.  They 
must  be  full  of  interest  and  instruction  to  an  inquirer  like  me. 
Will  not  the  chief  relate  it  briefly  ?  I  have  leisure,  —  my  ears 
are  open  to  his  words." 

"  Would  the  young  man  know  the  history  of  Wenongonet, 
alone  ?  "  said  the  other,  with  a  musing  and  melancholy  air. 
"  It  may  be  told  easier  than  by  words.  Does  the  young  man 
see  on  yonder  hill  that  tall,  green  pine,  which  stands  braced  on 
the  rocks,  and  laughs  at  the  storms,  because  it  is  strong  and  not 
afraid?" 

"  I  do." 

''•  That  is  TVenongonet  fifty  winters  ago.  Now,  does  the 
young  man  sec  that  tall,  dry  pine,  in  the  quiet  valley  below, 
with  a  slender  young  tree  shooting  up,  and  tenderly  spreading 
13* 


150  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

its  green  branches  around  that  aged  trunk,  so  it  would  sliield 
its  bare  sides  in  the  colds  of  winter,  and  fan  its  leafless  head  in 
the  heats  of  summer  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  see  that,  also." 

"  That  dry  tree,  already  tottering  to  its  fall,  is  Wenongonet 
now." 

"  But  what  is  the  young  tree  with  which  you  have  coupled 
it?" 

"  The  young  man  has  eyes,"  said  the  speaker,  glancing  affec- 
tionately at  his  blushing  daughter. 

"  But  the  young  man,"  he  resumed  after  a  thoughtful  pause, 
"  would  know  more  of  the  history  of  the  Red  Men  who  once 
held  the  country  as  their  own  ?  Let  him  read  it  in  the  history 
of  his  own  people,  turned  about  to  the  opposite.  Let  him  call 
the  white  man's  increase  from  a  little  beginning,  the  red  man's 
decrease  from  a  great,  —  the  white  man's  victories,  the  red 
man's  defeats,  —  the  white  man's  flourishing,  the  red  man's 
fading ;  and  he  will  have  the  history  of  the  red  men,  and  the 
reasons  of  their  sad  history,  in  this  country. 

"  Two  hundred  year-seasons  ago,  the  Abenaques  were  the 
great  nation  of  the  east.  From  the  sea  to  the  mountains 
they  were  the  lords  of  Mavoshen.*  They  were  a  nation  of 
warriors  and  a  wise  and  active  people.  But,  of  all  the  four 
tribes  —  the  Sokokis,  the  Anasquanticooks,  the  Kenabas,  the 
Wawenocks  —  who  made  up  this  great  nation,  the  Sokokis 
were  the  wisest  and  bravest.  Wenongonet  is  proud  when  he 
thinks  of  them.  They  were  his  tribe.  All  the  land  that  sent 
its  waters  through  the  Sawocotuc  f  to  the  sea  was  theirs.  They 
stood  with  their  warriors  at  the  outposts  against  the  crowding 
white  settlers  from  the  west  and  south.     They  were  pleased  to 

*  The  name  by  which  the  Province  of  Maine  was  designated  by  the 
early  voyagers,  and  the  Indian  word  probably  from  which  the  present 
name  of  the  State  of  Maine  was  derived. 

t  The  Indian  appellation  of  the  river  Saco,  which  is  doubtless  an  ab- 
breviation of  the  Indian  name  here  introduced. 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  151 

stand  there,  because  it  was  the  post  of  clanger  and  of  honor  in 
the  nation.  And  there  they  bravely  kept  their  stand  against 
that  wide  front  of  war,  and  took  the  battle  on  themselves,  till 
the  snows  of  more  than  a  hundred  winters  were  made  red  by 
their  rifles  and  tomahawks.  But  those  who  court  death  must 
often  fall  into  his  embrace.  So  with  the  Sokokis.  They  were 
at  first  a  great  and  many  people ;  but  they  wasted  and  fell,  as 
time,  the  bringer  of  new  and  strange  things,  wore  away,  before 
the  thick  and  more  thick  coming  of  their  greedy  and  pushing 
foes,  —  by  their  fii'c-water  in  peace  and  their  bullets  in  war, 
till  the  many  became  few,  the  great  small.  What  the  bloody 
Church,  with  his  swarm  of  picked  warriors,  had  left  after  his 
four  terrible  comings  with  fire  and  slaughter,  the  bold  Lovewell 
finished,  on  that  black  day  when  the  great  Paugus  and  all  the 
flower  of  the  tribe  found  red  graves  round  their  ancient  strong- 
hold and  home,  —  their  beloved  Pegwacket.*  This  was  the 
last  time  the  tribe  was  ever  assembled  as  a  separate  people. 
The  name  of  the  Sokokis,  at  which  so  many  pale  faces  had 
been  made  paler,  was  buried  in  the  graves  of  the  brave  war- 
riors who  had  here  died  to  defend  its  glory.  The  feeble  rem- 
nant, panic-struck  and  heart-broken,  fled  northward,  and,  like 
the  withered  leaves  of  the  forest  flying  before  the  strong  east 
wind,  were  scattered  and  swept  over  the  mountains  into  Canada ; 
all  but  the  family  of  Paugus,  who  took  their  stand  on  these 
lakes,  where  his  son,  Waurumba,  took  the  empty  title  of  chief, 
and,  dying,  left  it  still  more  empty  to  Wonongonet,  the  last  of 
the  long  line  of  sagamores,  —  the  last  ever  to  stand  here  to  tell 
the  young  white  man  the  story  of  their  greatness,  and  the  fate 
of  their  tribe." 

On  concluding  his  story,  the  chief  turned  to  his  daughter  and 
significantly,  pointed  to  the  lengthening  shadows  of  the  trees  on 

=*  The  name  of  a  once  populous  Indian  village,  which  occupied  the 
present  beautiful  site  of  the  village  of  Fryeburg,  Me.,  near  Lovewell's 
Pond,  where  the  sanguinary  conflict  here  alluded  to  occurred  in  1725. 


152  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

the  water,  with  a  motion  of  his  head  towards  their  home  up 
the  lakes. 

"  The  chief  thinks,"  said  Fluella,  arousing  herself  from  the 
thoughtful  attitude  in  which  she  had 'been  silently  listening  to 
the  conversation,  —  "  the  chief  thinks  it  time  we  were  on  the 
water,  on  our  way  home*  We  shall  have  now  tcy  bid  ]Mr.  ^^1- 
wood  a  good-evening." 

So  saying,  slie  stepped  lightly  into  the  canoe  and  took  her 
seat.  She  was  immediately  followed  by  the  chief,  who,  quickly 
handling  his  oar,  sent  the  light  craft,  with  a  single  stroke,  some 
rods  into  the  lake,  when,  partially  turning  its  bow  towards  the 
spot  where  Claud  was  standing  on  the  shore,  he  said : 

"  Should  the  young  man  ever  stray  from  his  companions  in 
the  hunt,  or  find  himself  weary,  or  wet,  or  cold,  or  in  want  of 
food,  when  out  on  the  borders  of  the  Molechunk-a-munk,  let 
him  feel,  and  doubt  not,  that  he  will  be  welcome  to  the  lodge  of 
Wenongonet." 

"  And,  if  Mr.  Elwood  should  be  in  the  vicinity  of  our  lake 
this  fall,  and  7iot  happen  to  be  in  a  so  very  sad  condition,  he 
might,  perhaps,  find  a  good  welcome  on  calling, — so,  especially, 
if  he  come  before  the  time  of  the  first  snows,"  added  Fluella, 
playfully  at  first,  but  with  a  slight  sufi'usion  of  the  cheek  as 
she  proceeded  to  the  close. 

"  I  thank  the  chief,"  responded  Claud  with  a  respectful  bow. 
"  And  I  thank  you,  my  fair  friend,"  he  continued,  turning  more 
familiarly  to  Fluella.  "  I  hope  to  come,  some  time.  But  why 
do  you  speak  of  the  first  snows?" 

"  O,  the  birds  take  wing  for  a  warmer  country  about  that  time, 
and  perhaps  some  who  have  not  wings  may  be  off  with  them," 
replied  Fluella,  in  the  same  tone  of  playfulness  and  emotion. 

A  stately  bow  from  the  father,  and  another  with  a  sweetly 
eloquent  smile  from  the  daughter,  completed,  on  their  part,  the 
ceremonies  of  the  adieu ;  when  the  canoe  was  headed  round, 
and,  by  the  easy  and  powerful  paddle-strokes  of  the  still  vigor- 
ous old  man,  sent  bounding  over  the  waters  of  the  glassy  lake. 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  153 

Slowly  and  thouglitfully  Claud  turned  and  took  his  way 
homeward.  "  Who  could  have  expected,"  he  soliloquized,  "  to 
witness  such  an  exhibition  of  intellect  and  exalted  tone  of  feel- 
ing in  one  of  that  despised  race,  as  that  proud  old  man  displayed, 
in  his  eloquently-told  story?  And  that  daughter !  "Well,  what 
is  she  to  me  ?  My  faith  is  given  to  another.  But  why  feel 
this  strange  interest  ?  Yet,  after  all,  it  is  probably  nothing  but 
what  any  one  would  naturally  feel  in  the  surprise  occasioned 
on  beholding  such  quahties  in  such  a  place  and  person.  No, 
no,  it  can  be  nothing  more ;  and  I  will  whistle  it  to  the  winds." 

And  he  accordingly  quickened  his  steps,  and  literally  began 
to  whistle  a  lively  tune,  by  way  of  silencing  the  unbidden  sen- 
sation which  he  felt  conscious  had  often,  since  he  first  met  this 
fair  daughter  of  the  wilds,  been  lurking  within.  But,  though 
he  thus  resolved  and  reasoned  the  intruding  feeling  into  nothing, 
yet  he  felt  he  would  not  like  to  have  Avis  Gurley  know  how 
often  the  sparkling  countenance  and  witching  smile  of  this  new 
and  beautiful  face  had  been  found  mingling  themselves  with 
the  previously  exclusive  images  of  liis  dreams.  But,  if  they 
did  so  before  this  second  interview,  would  they  do  it  less  now  ? 
His  head  resolutely  answered,  "  Yes,  less,  till  they  are  banished." 
His  heart  softly  whispered,  "  No."  And  we  will  not  anticipate 
by  disclosing  whether  head  or  heart  was  to  prove  the  better 
prophet. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

"Away !  nor  let  me  loiter  in  my  song, 
For  we  have  many  a  mountain  path  to  tread, 
And  many  a  varied  shore  to  sail  along, — 
By  truth  and  sadness,  not  by  fiction,  led." 

The  day  agreed  on,  by  the  trappers,  for  starting  on  their 
expedition  into  the  unbroken  wilds  around  and  beyond  the 
upper  lakes  to  the  extreme  reservoirs  of  the  lordly  Androscog- 
gin, had  at  length  arrived.  All  the  married  men  belonging  to 
the  company,  not  having  sons  of  their  own  old  enough,  had 
engaged  those  of  their  neighbors  to  come  and  remain  with  their 
famines  during  their  absence  from  home,  which,  it  was  thought 
probable,  would  be  prolonged  to  nearly  December.  Steel- 
traps  and  rifles  had  been  put  in  order,  ammunition  plentifully 
provided,  and  supplies  of  such  provisions  as  could  not  be  gener- 
ally procured  by  the  rifle  and  fish-hook  in  the  woods  and  its 
waters,  carefully  laid  in ;  and  all  were  packed  up  the  night 
previous,  and  in  readiness  for  a  start  the  next  morning. 

It  had  been  agreed  that  the  company  should  rendezvous  on 
the  lake-shore,  at  the  spot  which  we  have  already  often  men- 
tioned, and  which,  by  common  consent,  was  now  beginning  to 
be  called  Elwood's  Landing.  And,  accordingly,  early  on  the 
appointed  morning,  Mark  Elwood  and  his  son  Claud,  having 
dispatched  their  breakfast,  which  Mrs.  Elwood  had  been  care- 
ful to  make  an  unusually  good  and  plentiful  one,  shouldered 
their  large  hunting  packs,  with  their  blankets  neatly  folded  and 
strapped  outside ;  and,  having  bid  that  anxious  and  thoughtful 
wife  and  mother  a  tender  farewell,  left  the  house  and  proceeded 
with  a  lively  step  to  the  border  of  the  lake.  On  reaching  their 
canoe  at  the  landing,  they  glanced  inquiringly  around  them  for 

(154) 


THE  TRAPPER^^OP- JJMBAGOCi.  155 

some  indications  of  the  presence  or  coming  of  their  expected 
companions.  But  not  a  living  object  met  their  strained  gaze, 
and  not  the  semblance  of  a  sound  greeted  their  listening  ears. 
A  light  sheeted  fog,  of  varying  thickness  and  density  in  the 
different  portions  of  the  wide  expanse^r —  here  thin  and  spray- 
like, as  if  formed  of  the  breath  of  some  marine  monster,  and 
there  thickening  to  the  appearance  of  the  stratiform  cloud,  —  lay 
low  stretched,  in  long,  slow-creeping  undul^tiQUS^  ^ver  the 
bosom  of  the  waveless  lake. 

"  The  first  on  the  ground,  after  all,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Elwood, 
on  peering  out  sharply  through  the  partially-obstructing  fog 
in  the  direction  of  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  up  through  which 
most  of  the  company,  who  lived  on  the  rivers  below,  were 
expected  to  come.  "  That  is  smart,  after  so  much  cautioning  to 
us  to  be  here  in -season^  But  -they  cannot  be  very  far  off,  can 
they,  Claud  ?  " 

"  One  would  suppose  not,"  replied  the  latter ;  "  but  sounds^  in 
this  dense  and  quiet  state  of  the  atmosphere,  could  be  distin- 
guished at  a  great  distance,  and,  with  all  that  my  best  faculties 
can  do,  I  cannot  hear  a  singlevsound  from  any  quarter.  —  But 
stay,  what  was  that  ?  " 

"What  did  you  think  you  heard,  Claud ?^  asked  Mr. 
Elwood,  after  waiting  a  moment  for  the  other  to  proceed  or 
explain. 

"  Why,  I  can  hardly  tell,  myself,"  was  the  musing  reply ; 
"but  it  was  some  shrill,  long-drawn  sound,  that  seemed  to  come 
from  a  great  distance  in  the  woods  off  here  to  the  south-east,  or 
on  the  lake  beyond." 

"  Perhaps  it  was  a  loon  somewhere  up  the  lake,"  suggested 
Mr.  Elwood. 

"  It  may  be  so,  possibly,"  rejoined  Claud,  doubtfully  ;  "  but, 
if  there  were  any  inhabitants  near  enough  in  that  direction,  I 
should  think  it  must  be  —  hark,  there  it  is  again!  and,  as  I 
thought,  the  crowing  of  a  rooster." 

"  A  roaster  !  then  it  must  be  the  echo  of  one,  that  has  some- 


156  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

how  struck  across  from  Phillips'  barn  ;  but  how  could  that  be  ? 
Ah,  I  have  just  thought :  your  rooster  must  be  Codman  coming 
down  the  lake.  You  know  how  curiously  he  imitated  that  crea- 
ture at  the  logging  bee,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  happened  to  be^in  a  noisy  bustle  in  the  house,  just  at 
the  time  of  those  queer  performances  of  his,  and  heard  them 
imperfectly.  But,,  if  the  sound  I  heard  was  not  that  of  a  veri- 
table rooster,  I  never  was  so  deceived  in  my  life  respecting  the 
character  of  a  sound." 

"Well,  I  think  you  will  find  I  am  right,  but  we  will  wait, 
listen,  and  see." 

The  event  soon  proved  the  truth  of  Mr.  Elwood's  conjecture. 
Suddenly  a  canoe,  rounding  a  woody  point  a  half-mile  to  th-e 
right,  shot  into  view,  and  the  old  loud  and  shrill  Kuk-huk-he-o-ho 
of  Comical  Codman  rang  far  and  wide  over  the  waters  to  the 
echoing  hills  beyond.  But,  before  Claud  had  sufficiently,  re- 
covered from  his  surprise  to  respond  to  the  triumphant  ^'  Itdd 
you  so  "  of  his  father,  the  strange  salute  was  answered  by  a 
merry,  responsive  shout  of  voices  in  the  opposite  direction  ; 
and  presently  two  canoes,  each  containing  two  men,  emerged 
into  view  from  the  fog  hanging  over  the  outlet,  and,  joining  in 
a  contest  of  speed,  to  which  they  seemed  to  pereeive  the  single 
boatman  was,  byliis  movements,  challenging  them,  rapidly  made 
their  way  towards  the  understood  goal  of  the  landing. 

"  The  race  is  run. 
The  vict'ry  won  !■" 

exclaimed  the  trapper,  in  his  usual  cheery  tone  and  inimitable 
air  of  mock  gravity,  as  he  drew  up  his  oar,  to  let  ,the  impulse  of 
his  last  stroke  send  his  canoe  in  to  the  shore  of  the  landing,  as 
it  did,  while  the  foremost  of  his  competitors  in  the  friendly  race 
was  yet  fifty  yards  distant.  "  Mighty  smart  fellows,  you  ! "  he 
resumed,  waggishly  cocking  his  eye  towards  the  hunter,  who 
had  charge  of  the  boat  most  in  advance.     "  What  bright  and 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG>  157 

early  chaps,  living  only  from  trvvo  to  five  miles  off,  to  let  one  who 
has  ten  miles  to  come  be  in  first  at  the  rendezvous ! " 

"  Well,  Codman,  I  suppose  we  must  give  in,"  responded  the 
hunter.  "  But,  to  do  all  this,  you  must  have  risen  long  before 
day  ;  how  did  you  contrive  to  wake  up  ?" 

"  Why,  crowed  like  the  house  a-fire,  and  waked  myself  up,  to 
be  sure ! "  replied  Codman,  promptly.  "  How  did  you  suppose 
I  did  it  ?  But  let  that  all  go ;  I  want  to  look  you  over  a  little. 
You  have  brought  some  new  faces  with  you,  this  time,  haven't 
you,  Mr.  Hunter?" 

"  Yes,  here  is  one,"  answered  Phillips,  pointing  to  a  tall, 
sandy-complexioned,  but  good-looking  man  of  about  thirty,  who, 
having  occupied  the  forward  seat  of  the  canoe,  now  quietly 
stepped  ashore ;  "  yes,  gentlemen,"  added  the  hunter,  addressing 
himself  to  the  Elwoods,  standing  on  the  bank,  as  well  as  to  the 
trapper,  "I  make  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Carvil,  — a  man,  if 
I  ain't  a  good*  deal  out  in  my  reckoning,  who  might  be  relied  on 
in  most  any  circumstances." 

The  customary  salututions  were  then  exchanged  with  the 
stranger ;  when  the  hunter,  instinctively  understanding  that  often 
violated  rule  of  true  politeness  which  requires  of  the  introducer 
some  accompanying  remark,  giving  a  clue  to  the  position  and 
character  of  the  introduced,  so  as  to  gratify  the  natural  curiosity 
felt  on  such  occasions,  and  to  impart  more  freedom  to  the  con- 
versation, quickly  resumed : 

"  Mr.  Carvil  is  a  Green  Mountain  boy,  who  loves  hunting, 
partly  for  the  health  it  gives,  and  partly  for  the  fun  of  it.  His 
old  range  has  usually  been  round  the  Great  Megantic,  the  other 
side  of  the  highlands,  in  Canada,  where  I  have  heard  of  him 
through  the  St.  Francis  Indians.  But,  having  a  mind  to  see 
and  try  this  side,  he  came  on  a  few  days  ago,  inquired  me  out, 
and  turned  in  with  me.  We  from  below  have  invited  him  to 
join  our  company ;  are  you  all  here  agreed  to  that  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mark  Elwood,  in  his  usual  off-hand 
manner. 

14 


158  GAUT  gurley;   or., 

"  Certainly,"  added  Claud,  more  specifically,  "  I  think  we 
ought  to  be  gratified  in  such  an  acquisition  to  our  company." 

"  And  you,  Codman?"  said  the  hunter,  turning  inquiringly  to 
the  trapper.  "  It  is  your  turn  to  speak.  But  don't  show  the 
gentleman  so  many  of  your  bad  streaks,  to  begin  with,  as  to  put 
him  out  of  conceit  of  you  before  he  has  time  to  find  out  your 
good  ones." 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  but  I  must  run  the  risk,  then,"  said  the 
trapper ;  "  my  streaks  always  come  out  as  they  come  up,  I  never 
pick  any  of  them  out  as  samples  for  strangers.  But  to  the 
question, — well,  let's  run  him  over  once,  if  he  won't  be  mad: 
high  cheek  bones,  showing  him  enough  of  the  Indian  make  to 
be  a  good  hunter ;  a  crank,  steady  eye,  indicating  honest  mo- 
tives, and  a  good  resolution,  that  won't  allow  a  man  to  rest  easy 
till  his  object  is  carried  out;  and  lastly,  a  well-put-together, 
wiry  frame,  to  bear  fatigues,  and  do  the  work  which  so  large  a 
head  must  often  lay  out  for  it.  Yes,  he  passes  muster  with  me 
bravely :  let  him  in,  with  a  welcome." 

Carvil  rewarded  these  good-natured  running  commentaries 
on  his  person  and  supposed  qualities,  with  a  complacent  bow ; 
when  the  trapper  turned  to  the  other  canoe,  which,  with  Gaut 
Gurley  and  the  young  Indian  described  in  a  preceding  chapter 
on  board,  now  came  within  speaking  distance,  and  sang  out : 

"  Hil-lo !  there,  you,  captain,  who  made  the  big  logs  fly  so 
like  the  de-i-vel,  the  other  day,  whether  the  old  chap  had  any  hand 
in  it  or  not,  what  red  genius  is  that  you  have  brought  along 
with  you  ?  " 

"  It's  Tomah,  the  young  red  man  from  the  Connecticut-river 
region,  who  hunted  some  in  this  section  last  fall,  I  understand. 
I  supposed  you  had  met  him  before,"  replied  Gaut. 

"  O,  ah,  well,  yes,"  responded  Codman  ;  "  I  bethink  me,  now, 
it  is  the  young  Indian  that  \yent  to  college,  but  couldn't  be  kept 
there  long  enough  to  make  any  thing  else,  though  long  enough, 
may  be,  to  spoil  him  for  a  hunter." 

"  May  be  not,  too,"  retorted  Tomah,  with  a  miffed  air,  which 


THE    TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  159 

showed  he  did  not  so  readily  appreciate  the  half-serious,  half- 
sportive  manner  of  the  trapper  as  the  other  stranger  had  done. 
"  May  be,  when  you  out  with  me  catching  beaver,  one,  two 
month,  you  no  crow  so  loud." 

"  That's  right,"  interposed  the  hunter ;  "  the  Indian  gives  you 
what  you  deserve  for  your  nonsense,  Codman.  But  a  truce  to 
jokes.  Let  us  all  aboard,  strike  out,  and  be  on  our  way  over 
the  lake." 

In  compliance  with  this  suggestion,  those  not  already  in  the 
boats  took  to  their  seats,  handled  their  oars,  pushed  off,  and, 
headed  by  the  hunter  and  his  boat  companion,  and  falling,  one 
after  another,  into  a  line,  rowed  steadily  on  across  the  broadest 
part  of  the  lake,  taking  a  lofty  pine,  whose  attenuated  top  looked 
like  a  reed  rising  over  the  fog  in  the  distance,  as  a  guide  and 
landmark  to  the  great  inlet,  where  the  most  arduous  task  of 
their  expedition  was  to  be  encountered,  —  the  surmounting  of 
the  long  line  of  rapids  leading  to  the  great  lakes  above.  But  that 
task,  after  a  pleasant  rowing  of  a  couple  of  hours  had  brought 
them  to  it,  was,  by  dint  of  hard  struggles  against  the  current, 
with  oars  as  long  as  oars  could  be  made  to  prevail ;  with  set- 
ting-poles when  oars  ceased  to  serve  the  purpose ;  and  with 
ropes  attached  to  the  boats  and  di'awn  from  point  to  point  or 
rock  to  rock,  when  neither  oars  nor  poles  were  of  any  avail ; 
together  with  the  carrying  both  boats  and  baggage  by  land 
round  the  last  and  most  difficult  ascent,  —  that  task  was  at 
length  accomplished,  and,  before  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
all  the  boats,  with  their  loading,  were  safely  launched  on  the 
broad  bosom  of  the  wild  and  picturesque  Molechunk-a-munk. 

Here,  however,  the  company  decided  on  taking  their  mid- 
day's lunch,  and  an  hour's  rest,  before  proceeding  on  their 
voyage.  But,  not  deeming  it  expedient  to  incur  the  trouble  and 
delay  which  the  building  of  fires  and  the  new  cooking  of  pro- 
visions would  require,  they  drew  out  only  their  bread  and  cold 
meats,  for  the  occasion  ;  and  these,  as  the  company  were  seated 
in  an  irregular  circle  on  the  rocks,  were  discussed  and  dis- 


160 

patched  with  that  keen  relish  which  abstinence  and  a  toil- 
earned  appetite  alone  could  have  brought  them. 

After  they  had  finished  their  repast,  they,  at  the  suggestion 
of  Phillips  and  Codman,  the  only  persons  of  the  company  who 
were  familiar  with  the  lakes  and  country  above,  took  up  a 
question  which  they  had  before  discussed,  without  settling,  but 
which,  they  were  told  by  the  persons  just  named,  must  now, 
before  proceeding  any  farther,  be  definitely  settled  and  under- 
stood. This  question  was  that  of  the  expediency  of  establish- 
ing a  general  head-quarters  for  the  season,  by  building  a  large, 
storm-proof  camp,  and  locating  it  at  some  central  point  on  the 
shore  of  one  of  the  two  great  lakes  opening  still  above  the  one 
on  which  they  were  now  about  to  embark.  The  object  of  this 
was  to  insure  the  company  comfortable  quarters,  to  which  they 
could  resort  in  case  of  falling  sick,  or  encountering  long  storms, 
at  which  their  furs  could  be  collected  and  more  safely  kept, 
their  more  cumbrous  stores  left,  and  from  which  their  provis- 
ions could  be  distributed,  with  the,  least  trouble  and  travel,  to 
the  smaller  and  more  temporary  camps  that  each  of  the  com- 
pany, or  any  two  of  them,  might  make  at  the  nearest  termina- 
tions, on  the  neighboring  waters,  of  the  different  ranges  of 
woods  they  should  select  for  their  respective  fields  of  operations. 
The  main  part  of  the  question,  that  of  the  necessity  of  estab- 
lishing general  head-quarters,  was  at  once,  and  unanimously, 
decided  in  the  afiirraative.  The  remaining  part,  that  of  the 
most  eligible  location  for  these  quarters,  was  then  fully  discussed, 
and  finally  settled  by  fixing  the  point  of  location  about  midway 
of  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mooseeluk-maguntic,  the  next  great 
lake  above,  and,  counting  from  the  south,  the  third  in  this 
unique  chain  of  secluded  lakes  and  widely  clustering  lakelets, 
through  which  the  far-spanning  Androscoggin  pours  its  vast 
volume  of  wild  waters  to  the  distant  bosom  of  the  welcoming 
ocean. 

"  Wisely  arranged,"  remarked  the  hunter,  at  the  close  of 
the  discussion.     "  The  next  object  in  view,  then,  is  to  reach 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  161 

there  this  evening,  in  season  to  work  up  something  in  the  shape 
of  a  camp,  that  will  serve  for  the  night,  and  until  the  good-one 
we  propose  to  build  can  be  completed." 

"  That  can  be  done  easily  enough,"  said  Codman,  "  that  is, 
if  we  will  tax  our  marrow-bones  a  little  extra  in  pulling  at  the 
oars.  The  distance  over  this  lake,  up  the  narrows,  or  river, 
and  across  the  end  of  the  Maguntic  to  the  mouth  of  that  sec- 
ond stream  we  have  talked  of,  can't  be  much  more  than  a 
dozen  miles,  and  all  smooth  sailing.  Lord,  yes !  if  we  put  in 
like  decent  oarsmen,  I  warrant  we  make  fetch  come,  so  as  to 
be  there  by  the  sun  an  hour  high,  which  will  give  time  to  build  a 
comfortable  camp,  and  for  cooking  up  the  jolly  good  supper 
I'm  thinking  to  have,  to  pay  us  for  all  these  sweats  and  hard 
pulls  up  these  confounded  rapids  and  over  these  never-ending 
lakes." 

"  Well,  let  us  put  in,  then,  boys,"  responded  Gaut  Gurley. 
"  i  am  as  much  for  the  go-ahead  principle  as  the  best  of  you. 
Let  us  try  the  motion,  and  earn  the  good  supper,  whether  we 
get  it  or  not.  But,  to  make  the  supper  quite  the  thing  for  the 
occasion,  it  strikes  me  we  ought  to  liave  something  a  little 
fresher  than  our  salt  junk." 

"  True,  O  King,  and  Great  Mogul  of  the  lubber-lifts,"  re- 
joined the  trapper  ;  "  thou  talkest  like  one,  not  altogether  with- 
out knowledge  of  the  good  living  of  the  woods.  That  some- 
thing fresher  we  will  have,  if  it  be  only  a  mess  of  fish,  which 
I  think  I  can  take  out  of  that  stream  in  a  short  time  after  we 
get  there." 

"  That  could  be  done  as  we  go  along,  if  these  lakes  are  as 
well  stocked  with  large  trout  as  they  are  reputed,"  observed 
Carvil,  in  the  calm,  deliberate  manner  which  characterized  him 
on  all  occasions. 

"  But  we  mustn't  stop  for  that,"  said  the  trapper. 

"  There  is  no  need  of  stopping,"  quietly  replied  the  former. 

"That's  a  queer  idea,"  pid  the  trapper,  evidently  at  fault. 
14# 


162  GAUT  gurley;  or, 

"  How  are  we  to  put  in  and  wait  for  bites,  without  stopping,  I 
would  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  may  be  able  to  demonstrate  the  matter,  as  we 
proceed  on  our  way.  At  all  events,  since  the  question  is 
raised,  I  will  try,"  replied  Carvil,  drawing  from  his  pocket  a 
roll  of  small  silk  cord,  to  which  a  fish-hook,  without  any  sinker, 
was  attached.  "  Can  any  of  you  handily  get  at  your  pork,  so 
as  to  cut  off  and  throw  me  a  small  bit  ?  There,  that  will  do," 
he  continued,  taking  the  proffered  bit  of  meat,  and  baiting  his 
hook  with  it.  "  Now,  the  experiment  I  propose  to  try  is  what 
in  my  region  we  call  'trouUing,'  which  consists  of  throwing  out 
a  baited  hook  and  paying  out,  as  the  boat  moves  on,  a  hundred 
feet,  or  so,  of  line,  that  is  left  to  trail,  floating  on  the  surface  of 
the  water  behind ;  when  most  large  fish,  like  bass,  or  trout, 
especially  if  you  make  a  sharp  tack,  occasionally,  so  as  to  draw 
the  line  across  an  undisturbed  portion  of  the  water,  will  see, 
and,  darting  up,  sieze  it,  and  hook  themselves.  And,  if  you 
have  many  large  trout  here,  and  they  are  any  related  to  those 
I  have  found  in  the  Great  Maguntic,  and  other  large  bodies  of 
fresh  water,  they  will  some  of  them  stand  a  pretty  good  chance 
to  be  found  adding  to  our  supper  to-night." 

"  Sorry  to  hear  it,"  said  the  trapper,  "  for  I  have  always 
considered  the  trout  a  sensible  fish,  and  I  should  be  sorry  to 
lose  my  respect  for  them.  But,  if  they  will  do  that,  they  are 
bigger  fools  than  I  took  them  to  be.  But  you  '11  find  they  just 
won't." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  about  that,  now.  I  am  not  so  sure  but 
there  may  be  something  in  it,"  remarked  the  hunter,  who 
had  been  listening  to  Carvil  with  evident  interest.  "  Though 
we  have  never  tried  that  method  in  this  region,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, yet  my  experience  rather  goes  to  confirm  the  notion.  I 
remember  to  have  caught  several  fine  trout,  when  I  had  laid 
down  my  pole,  and  was  moving  off  with  my  boat,  but  had  left 
my  line  trailing  behind.  Those  great  fellows  are  not  very 
bashful  about  seizing  any  thing  they  think  they  can  eat,  which 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  163 

they  can  see  on  the  surface.  I  have  known  them  do  a  stranger 
thing  than  to  come  up  and  seize  a  piece  of  pork." 

"  What  was  that  ?  "  asked  the  trapper. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  as  you  will  believe  the  story,"  answered 
the  other,  "  but  it  will  be  equally  true,  if  you  don't.  Some 
years  ago  I  was  out  on  the  Umbagog,  for  a  mess  of  trout,  but 
couldn't  get  a  bite ;  and,  seeing  a  flock  of  black  ducks  in  a 
neighboring  cove,  I  hauled  in  my  line,  and  rowed  off  towards 
them,  thinking  I  might  get  a  shot,  and  so  have  something  to 
carry  home,  by  way '  of  mending  my  luck  at  fishing.  But, 
before  I  got  near  enough  to  count  with  much  certainty  on 
the  effect  of  a  shot,  if  I  fired,  they  all  flew  up,  but  one, 
which,  though  it  seemed  to  be  trying  hard  enough,  could  not 
raise  its  body  out  of  the  water.  As  my  canoe  drifted  in  nearer, 
I  once  or  twice  raised  my  rifle  to  fire  at  it ;  but  it  acted  so 
strangely,  flapping  the  water  with  its  wings,  and  tugging  away 
at  swimming,  without  appearing  to  gain  scarce  a  single  foot, 
that  I  soon  laid  down  my  piece  and  concluded  I  would  try  to 
take  it  alive,  supposing  it  must  have  got  fast  tangled  with 
something,  but  with  what,  I  was  wholly  unable  to  conceive. 
So,  taking  up  my  oar,  and  gunning  my  canoe,  so  as  to  send  it 
by  within  reach  of  the  bird,  I  gave  two  or  three  strong  pulls, 
threw  down  the  oar,  put  out  my  hand,  and  sat  ready  for  the 
grab,  which  the  next  moment  I  made,  seizing  the  panting  and 
now  sinking  duck  by  one  of  its  outspread  wings,  and  pulling  it 
in,  with  a  big  trout  fastened  to  its  foot  and  leg  so  tight  by  the 
teeth  that  the  hold  did  not  give  way  till  the  greedy  fish  was 
brought  slapping  over  the  side,  and  landed  safely  in  the  bottom 
of  the  canoe.  That  trout,  when  I  got  home,  weighed  just  seven 
pounds  and  nine  ounces." 

"  Wheugh !  whiz  !  kak  !  ke-o-ho ! "  exclaimed,  whistled,  and 
crowed  Comical  Codman. 

"  I  do  not  doubt  it  in  the  least,"  said  Carvil. 

"  Nor  can  I,  of  course,  on  Mr.  Phillips'  statement,"  added 
Mark  Elwood ;  "  but,  if  I  had  not  known  his  scrupulousness  in 


164 

matters  of  fact,  I  should  not  have  believed  that  so  strange  a 
circumstance  had  ever  happened  in  the  world." 

*^  So  the  storjr  is  voted  gospel,  is  it  ?  "  rejoined  the  trapper. 
"  Well,  then,  I  propose  we  commission  its  author  to  cruise 
along  the  coves  this  afternoon,  so  that  he  may  bring  into  camp 
to-night  trout  enough  caught  in  that  way  to  make  up  what 
Mr.  Carvil  may  miss  taking  by  Ms  method,  together  with  a 
brace  or  two  of  nice  ducks,  which  would  be  a  still  further  fine 
addition  to  our  supper." 

"  Yes,  ducks  or  some  other  kind  of  flesh,  to  go  with  the  fish, 
we  may  now  safely  count  on  being  secured,  by  some  of  the 
various  proposed  methods,"  here  interposed  Claud  Elwood, 
seriously.  And  I  second  the  motion  of  such  a  cruise  along 
the  shores,  by  Mr.  Phillips,  who  so  seldom  fails  of  killing  some- 
thing. And  if  he,  Mr.  Carvil,  and  father,  will  agree  to  an 
exchange  of  boat  companions  for  the  afternoon,  I  should  like  to 
go  with  him.  I  have  chosen  him  my  schoolmaster  in  hunting, 
and  I  should  have  a  chance  for  another  lesson  before  we  go 
into  the  separate  fields  of  our  approaching  operations." 

Gaut  Gurley  started  at  the  suggestion,  and  cast  a  few  quick, 
searching  glances  at  Claud  and  the  hunter,  as  if  suspecting  a 
concert  of  action  between  them,  for  some  purpose  affecting  his 
secret  plans ;  but,  appearing  to  read  nothing  in  either  of  their 
countenances  to  confirm  such  suspicions,  and  seeing  all  the  rest 
of  the  company  readily  falling  in  with  the  proposal,  he  held 
his  i^eace,  and  joined  the  others  in  handling  the  oars  for  their 
immediate  departure ;  which  was  now  in  a  few  minutes  taken, 
the  main  part  of  the  company  striking  in  a  direct  line  across 
the  middle  of  the  lake  for  their  destination,  leaving  the  hunter 
and  Claud  moving  off'  obliquely  to  the  right,  for  a  different  and 
farther  route  among  the  intervening  islands,  and  along  the 
indented  shores  beyond,  —  where  it  will  best  comport  with  the 
objects  of  our  story,  we  think,  to  accompany  them  in  their 
solitary  excursion. 

"  Where  away,  as  the  sailors  have  it  ?"  said  Claud,  after  the 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  165 

two,  each  with  a  single  oar,  had  rowed  on  a  while  in  silence  ; 
"  where  away,  Mr.  Phillips,  or  in  the  line  of  what  object  in 
sight  would  you  lay  your  course  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  had  proposed,  in  my  own  mind,"  replied  the  hunter, 
"  to  steer  direct  across,  so  as  to  graze  the  east  side  of  the  great 
island  you  see  yonder  in  the  distance ;  but,  as  we  shall  pass 
so  near  the  cove  which  lies  snuggled  away  between  two 
sharp,  woody  points  here,  a  little  ahead  to  the  right,  we  might 
as  well,  perhaps,  haul  in  and  take  a  squint  round  it." 

"  What  shall  we  find  there  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  nothing.  It  is  the  place,  however,  where  I  found 
that  deer  which  I  killed  when  we  were  here  before." 

"  Well,  if  you  can  count  on  another,  we  should  turn  in  there 
now." 

"  We  will ;  but  a  hunter,  young  man,  must  never  talk  of 
certainties  when  going  to  any  particular  spot  in  search  of  such 
roving  things  as  the  animals  of  the  forest  He  must  learn  to 
bear  disappointment,  and  be  prepared  to  find  nothing  where 
he  or  others  had  before  found  every  thing.  He  must  have 
patience.  Loss  of  patience  is  very  apt  to  be  fatal  to  success 
in  almost  any  business,  but  especially  so  in  hunting.  You 
spoke  of  taking  lessons  of  me  in  the  craft :  this  is  the  very  first 
grand  lesson  I  would  impress  on  your  mind.  But  we  are  now 
close  upon  the  point  of  land,  which  we  are  only  to  round  to  be 
in  the  cove.  If  you  are  disposed  to  row  the  boat  alone,  now, 
keep  in  or  out,  stop  or  move  on,  as  I  from  to  time  give  the 
word,  I  will  down  on  my  knees  in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  with 
cocked  rifle  in  hand,  ready  for  what  may  be  seen." 

Readily  complying,  Claud  carefully  rowed  round  the  point 
and  entered  the  dark  and  deep  indenture  constituting  the  cove, 
whose  few  acres  of  surface  were  thrown  almost  wholly  into 
the  shade,  even  at  sunny  noonday,  by  the  thickly-clustered 
groups  of  tall,  princely  pines,  which,  like  giant  warriors  in 
council,  stood  nodding  their  green  plumes  around  the  closely- 
encircling  shores.     Closely  hugging  the  banks,  now  stopping 


166  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

beliind  some  projecting  clump  of  bushes,  now  in  some  rock- 
formed  nook,  and  now  in  the  covert  of  some  low-bending  tree- 
top,  to  give  the  keen-eyed  hunter  a  chance  to  peer  round  or 
through  these  screening  objects  into  the  open  spaces  along  the 
shore  beyond,  he  slowly  pushed  along  the  canoe  till  the  whole 
line  of  the  cove  was  explored,  and  they  reached  the  point  cor- 
responding to  the  one  at  which  they  commenced  their  look-out 
for  game,  and  all  without  seeing  a  living  creature. 

"'Pshaw !  this  is  dull  business,"  exclaimed  Claud,  as  they 
came  out  into  the  open  lake,  where  he  was  left  free  to  speak 
aloud.  "  This  was  so  fine  a  looking  place  for  game  that  I 
felt  sure  we  should  see  something  worth  taking ;  and  I  am  quite 
disappointed  in  the  result." 

"  So  that,  then,  is  the  best  fruit  you  can  show  of  my  first 
lesson  in  hunting,  is  it,  young  man  ? "  responded  the  hunter, 
with  a  significant  smile. 

Claud  felt  the  implied  rebuke,  and  promised  better  behavior 
for  the  future ;  when  both  seated  themselves  at  the  oars,  and, 
as  men  naturally  do,  after  an  interval  of  suppressed  action, 
plied  themselves  with  a  vigor  that  sent  their  craft  swiftly  surg- 
ing over  the  waters  in  the  line  of  their  original  destination. 

They  now  soon  reached,  and  shot  along  the  shore  of,  a 
beautifully- wooded  island,  nearly  a  half-mile  in  extent,  about 
midway  of  which  the  hunter -rested  on  his  oars,  and,  after  Claud, 
on  his  motion,  had  done  the  same,  observed,  pointing  through  a 
partial  opening  among  the  trees,  along  a  visible  path  that  led 
up  a  gentle  slope  into  the  interior  of  the  island : 

"  There !  do  you  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  house-like  looking 
structure,  in  an  open  and  light  spot  in  the  woods,  a  little  be- 
yond where  you  cease  to  trace  the  path  ?  " 

"  Yes,  quite  distinctly.     What  is  it  ?  " 

"  That  belongs  to  the  chief,  and  might  properly  enough  be 
called  his  summer-house,  as  he  generally  comes  here  with  his 
family  to  spend  the  hot  months.  He  raises  fine  crops  of  corn 
in  his  clearing  on  there  beyond  the  house,  and  saves  it  all,  be- 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  167 

cause  the  bears,  coons,  and  squirrels,  that  trouble  him  else- 
where, are  so  completely  fenced  out  by  the  surrounding  water." 

"  Are  the  family  there,  now  ?  " 

"  No ;  they  have  moved  back  to  his  principal  residence,  a 
mile  or  two  distant,  on  a  point  of  land  over  against  the  opposite 
side  of  this  island,  and  not  far  out  of  our  course." 

"  Indeed  !  what  say  you,  then,  to  giving  them  a  call  as  we 
pass  by  ?  " 

"  We  shall  not  have  time,  which  is  a  good  reason  for  not 
calling  now,  if  there  were  not  still  stronger  ones." 

"What  stronger  reasons,  or  what  other  reasons  at  all?  " 

"  Well,  perhaps  there  are  none.  But,  supposing  two  of  the 
company  we  left  behind,  who  might  happen  to  conceive  they 
have  some  secret  interest  at  stake,  should  ever  suspect  that 
your  leading  object  in  leaving  them  was  to  make  the  very  visit 
you  are  now  proposing,  would  you  not  prefer  that  we  should 
have  it  in  our  power  to  set  their  minds  at  rest,  when  we  join 
them  to-night,  by  telling  them  all  the  places  we  did  touch  at  ?  " 

"  It  is  possible  I  should,  in  such  a  case,"  replied  Claud,  look- 
ing surprised  and  puzzled ;  "  but,  '  suspected,*  did  you  say  ? 
Why  should  they  suspect  ?  and  what  if  they  do  ?  " 

"  Three  questions  in  a  heap,  when  one  is  more  than  I  could 
wisely  attempt  to  answer,"  evasively  answered  the  cautious 
hunter. 

"  But  you  must  have  some  reasons  for  what  you  said,"  per- 
sisted the  other. 

"  Reasons  founded  upon  guesses  are  poor  things  to  build  a 
statement  on,"  rejoined  the  hunter.  "  Half  the  mischief  and 
ill-feeling  in  the  world  comes  from  statements  so  made.  And, 
guessing  aloud  is  often  no  better.  I  rather  think,  all  things 
considered,  we  had  better  not  stop  at  the  chiefs,  this  time.  I 
can  show  you  where  he  lives,  as  we  pass ;  and,  if  that  will  do, 
we  will  now  handle  oars,  and  be  on  our  way." 

]\Iuch  wondering  at  the  enigmatical  words  of  the  other,  Claud, 
without  further  remark,  put  in  his  oar  and  thoughtfully  rowed 


168  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

on,  till  they  had  passed  round  the  head  of  the  island ;  when, 
on  the  indication  of  the  hunter,  they  stretched  away  towards  a 
distant  promontory,  on  the  northeastern  shore  of  the  lake.  A 
steady  and  vigorous  rowing  of  half  an  hour  brought  them  with- 
in a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  headland,  for  which  they  had 
been  steering ;  when  the  hunter  lifted  his  oar,  and  said  : 

"  There !  let  the  canoe  run  on  alone,  a  while,  and  give  me 
your  attention.  Now,  you  see,"  he  continued,  pointing  in  shore 
to  the  right,  "  you  see  that  opening  in  the  woods,  yonder,  on  the 
southern  slope  extending  down  near  the  lake,  eighty  rods  or 
such  a  matter  off,  don't  you  ?  Well,  that,  and  divers  other 
openings,  where  the  timber  has  been  cut  down  and-burnt  over, 
for  planting  corn,  scattered  about  in  the  woods  in  different 
places,  as  well  as  a  large  tract  of  the  surrounding  forest-land, 
are  the  possessions  of  the  chief." 

"  But  where  is  their  house?" 

"  Down  near  the  lake,  among  the  trees.  You  can't  see 
much  of  it,  but  it  is  a  smart,  comfortable  house,  like  one  of  our 
houses,  and  built  by  a  carpenter ;  for  the  chief  used  formerly 
to  handle  considerable  money,  got  by  the  furs  caught  by  him- 
self, and  by  the  profits  on  the  furs  he  bought  of  the  St.  Fran- 
cis Indians,  who  came  over  this  way  to  hunt.  But  stay :  there 
are  some  of  the  family  at  his  boat-landing.  I  think  it  must  be 
Fluella  and  her  Indian  half-brother.  She  is  waving  a  hand- 
kerchief towards  us.     Let  us  wait  and  see  what  she  wants." 

The  female,  whose  trim  figure,  English-fashioned  dress,  and 
graceful  motions  went  to  confirm  the  hunter's  conjectures,  now 
appeared  to  turn  and  give  some  directions  to  the  boy,  who  im- 
mediately disappeared,  but  in  a  few  minutes  came  back,  en- 
tered a  canoe,  and  put  off  towards  the  spot  where  our  two 
voyagers  were  resting  on  their  oars.  In  a  short  time  the  canoe 
came  up,  rowed  by  an  ordinary  Indian  boy  of  about  fourteen, 
who,  pulling  alongside,  held  up  a  neatly-made,  new,  wampum- 
trimmed  hunting  pouch,  and  said : 


THE   TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  169 

"  The  chief  send  this  Mr.  Claud  Elwood,  —  gift.  Fluella 
say,  wish  Mr.  Phillips  and  Mr.  Claud  Elwood  good  time." 

And  so  saying,  and  tossing  the  article  to  Claud,  he  wheeled 
his  canoe  around,  and,  without  turning  his  head  or  appearing 
to  hear  the  compliments  and  thanks  that  both  the  hunter  and 
Claud  told  him  to  take  to  the  chief  and  his  daughter,  sped  his 
way  back  to  the  landing. 

"  There,  young  man ! "  exclaimed  the  obviously  gratified 
hunter,  "  that  is  a  present,  with  a  meaning.  I  would  rather 
have  it,  coming  as  it  does  from  an  Lidian,  and  that  Indian 
such  a  man  as  the  chief,  —  I  would  rather  have  it,  as  a  pledge 
of  watchfulness  over  your  interests  in  the  settlement,  whether 
you  are  present  there  or  absent, — than  a  white  man's  bond  for 
a  hundred  dollars ;  and  I  would  also  rather  have  it,  as  a  token 
of  faith,  given  when  you  are  roaming  this  northern  wilderness, 
than  a  passport  from  the  king  of  England.  The  chief's  Totem, 
the  bald  eagle,  is  woven  in,  I  see,  among  the  ornaments.  Every 
Indian  found  anywhere  from  the  great  river  of  Canada  to  the 
sea  eastward  will  know  and  respect  it,  and  know,  likewise,  how 
to  treat  the  man  to  whoni  it  was  given." 

"  But  how,"  asked  Claud,  "  could  stranger  Indians,  whom  I 
encountered,  know  to  whom  it  was  given,  or  that  I  did  not  find, 
buy,  or  steal  the  article  ?  " 

"  Let  an  Indian  alone  for  that.  You  have  but  three  fingers 
on  your  left  hand,  I  have  noticed." 

"  True,  the  little  finger  was  accidentally  cut  clean  off  by  an 
axe,  when  I  was  a  child ;  but  what  has  that  to  do  with  the 
question  ?  " 

"  Enough  to  settle  it.  Do  you  notice  something  protruding 
as  if  from  under  the  protecting  wing  of  the  eagle  of  the  Totenij 
there  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  and  surely  enough  it  resembles  a  human  hand,  with 
only  three  fingers." 

"  That  is  it ;  and  you  may  yet,  in  your  experiences  in  these 

15 


170  GAUT  gurlet;   or, 

rough  and  sometimes  dangerous  wilds,  know  the  value  of  that 
gift." 

"  At  any  rate,  I  feel  gratified  at  this  mark  of  the  chiefs  good 
will ;  the  more  because  I  was  so  little  expecting  it,  espe- 
cially at  this  time.  How  could  they  have  possibly  made  out 
who  I,  or  indeed  either  of  us,  was,  at  such  a  distance  ?  " 

"  A  very  natural  inquiry,  but  answered  when  I  tell  you  that 
Fluella  has  a  good  spy-glass,  that  a  year  or  two  ago  she  brought, 
among  other  curious  trinkets,  from  her  other  home  in  the  old 
settlement.  And  she  makes  it  often  serve  a  good  purpose,  too. 
She  has  spied  out,  for  her  father's  killing,  many  a  moose  or 
deer  that  had  come  down  to  the  edge  or  into  the  water  of  the 
lake  round  the  shores  to  drink,  eat  wild-grass,  or  cool  them- 
selves, as  well  as  many  a  flock  of  wild  geese,  lighting  here  on 
their  fall  or  spring  passages.  She  knew,  I  think,  about  the  day 
we  were  to  start,  and,  being  on  the  lookout,  saw  the  rest  of  our 
company  passing  off  here  to  the  west,  an  hour  or  two  ago,  and, 
not  seeing  us  among  them,  expected  us  to  be  along  somewhere 
in  this  direction.     Now,  is  all  explained  ?  " 

"  Yes,  curiously  but  satisfactorily." 

"  Then,  only  one  word  more  on  the  subject :  let  me  advise 
you  not  to  show  that  hunting-pouch  when  we  join  the  company, 
nor  wear  it  till  we  are  off  on  our  separate  ranges.  I  have  my 
reasons,  but  mustn't  be  asked  to  give  them." 

"  All  this  is  odd,  Mr.  Phillips  ;  but,  taking  it  for  granted  that 
your  reasons  are  good  ones,  I  will  comply  with  your  advice." 

"  Very  well.  The  whole  matter  being  now  disposed  of,  let 
us  move  on  round  the  point,  and  into  the  large  cove  we  shall 
find  round  there.  "We  mustn't  give  up  about  game  so.  No 
knowing  what  may  yet  be  done  in  that  line." 

Having  risen  to  his  feet,  raised  his  hunting-cap,  and  bowed 
his  adieu  to  the  still  lingering  maiden  on  shore,  Claud  now 
joined  his  companion  at  the  oars  ;  when  they  rapidly  passed 
round  the  headland,  and  soon  entered  the  bay-like  recess  of 
water,  which,  sweeping  round  in  a  large  wood-fringed  circle, 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  171 

opened  upon  the  view  immediately  beyond.  After  skirting 
along  the  sometimes  bold  and  rocky,  and  sometimes  low  and 
swampy,  thickly-wooded  shore,  with  a  sharp  lookout  for  what- 
ever might  come  within  range  of  the  eye,  but  without  stopping 
for  any  special  examination  till  they  had  reached  the  most  se- 
cluded part  of  the  cove,  the  hunter  suspended  his  oar,  and  sig- 
niiied  his  intention  of  landing.  Accordingly,  running  in  their 
canoe  by  the  side  of  an  old  treetop  extending  into  the  water, 
and,  throwing  their  mooring-line  around  one  of  its  bare  limbs, 
they  stepped  noiselessly  ashore,  and  ascended  the  bank,  when 
the  hunter,  pausing  and  pointing  inward,  said,  in  a  low,  sup- 
pressed tone : 

"  There,  within  a  short  distance  from  us,  commences  one  of 
the  thickest  windfall  jungles  in  these  parts,  and  extends  up 
nearly  to  the  chief's  outermost  cornfield,  about  half  a  mile  off. 
I  have  been  threatening  to  come  here  some  time  ;  and  if,  as  I 
will  propose,  we  go  into  the  tangle,  and  get  through,  or  half 
through,  without  encounter  of  some  kind,  I  confess  I  shall  be 
uncommonly  disappointed.  But,  before  entering,  let  us  sit 
down  on  this  old  log  a  few  minutes,  and,  while  looking  to  our 
flints  and  priming,  keep  our  ears  open  for  such  sounds  as  may 
reach  them." 

And,  bending  low  his  head,  with  closed  eyes,  and  an  ear 
turned  towards  the  thicket,  the  hunter  listened  long  and  intently 
in  motionless  silence,  after  which  he  quickly  rose,  and,  while 
glancing  at  his  gun-flint  and  priming,  said : 

"  There  are  no  distinct  sounds,  but  the  air  is  disturbed  in  the 
kind  of  way  that  I  have  frequently  noticed  when  animals  of 
some  size  were  in  the  vicinity.  Let  us  forward  into  the 
thicket,  spreading  out  some  ten  rods  apart,  and  worming  our- 
selves among  the  windfalls,  with  a  stop  and  a  thorough  look 
every  few  rods  of  our  progress.  Should  you  start  up  a  pan- 
ther, which  ain't  very  likely,  you  had  better  whistle  for  me, 
before  firing  ;*  but,  if  any  thing  else,  blaze  away  at  it." 

Nodding  his  assent,  and  startmg  off  in  a  course  diverging  to 


172  GAUT  gurlet;   or, 

the  right  of  the  one  he  perceived  his  companion  to  be  taking, 
Claud  slowly,  and  as  he  best  could,  made  his  way  forward, 
sometimes  crawling  underjand  sometimes  clambering  over  the 
tangled  masses  of  fallen  trees,  which,  with  a  thick  upshooting 
second  growth,  lay  piled  and  crossed  in  all  conceivable  shapes 
and  directions  before  him.  After  proceeding  in  this  manner 
thirty  or  forty  rods,  he  paused,  for  the  third  or  fourth  time,  to 
look  and  listen ;  but  lastly  quite  as  much  for  his  companion 
as  for  game,  for,  with  all  his  powers,  he  could  detect  no  sound 
indicating  that  the  latter  could  be  anywhere  in  the  vicinity. 
"While  thus  engaged,  he  heard  a  small,  shrill,  plaintive  sort  of 
cry,  as  of  a  little  child,  coming  from  somewhere  above  him ; 
when,  casting  up  his  eyes,  he  beheld  a  large  raccoon  sidling 
round  a  limb,  and  seemingly  winking  and  nodding  down  to- 
wards him.  With  the  suppressed  exclamation  of  "  Far  better 
than  nothing,"  he  brought  his  piece  to  his  face  and  fired  ;  when 
the  glimpse  of  a  straight-falling  body,  and  the  heavy  thump  on 
the  ground  that  followed,  told  him  that  the  object  of  his  aim 
was  a  "  dead  coon"  But  his  half-uttered  shout  of  exultation 
was  cut  short  by  the  startling  report  of  a  rifle,  a  little  distance 
to  the  rear,  on  his  left.  And  the  next  moment  a  huge  old 
bear,  followed  by  a  smaller  one,  came  smashing  and  tearing 
through  the  brush  and  tree-tops  directly  towards  liim.  And 
with  such  headlong  spised  did  the  frightened  brutes  advance 
upon  him,  that  he  had  scarce  time  to  draw  his  clubbed  rifle 
before  the  old  one  had  broke  into  the  little  open  space  where 
he  stood,  and  thrown  herself  on  her  haunches,  in  an  attitude  of 
angry  defiance.  Recoihng  a  step  in  the  only  way  he  could 
move,  and  expecting  the  next  moment  to  find  himself  within 
the  fatal  grasp  of  the  bear,  if  he  did  not  disable  her,  Claud 
aimed  and  struck  with  all  his  might  a  blow  at  her  head.  But, 
before  the  swiftly-descending  implement  reached  its  mark,  it  was 
struck  by  the  fending  paw  of  the  enraged  brute,  with  a  force 
that  sent  its  tightly-grasping  owner  spinning  and  floundering 
into  the  entangled  brushwood,  till  he  landed  prostrate  on  the 


J 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  173 

ground.  And)  ere  he  had  time  to  turn  himself,  the  desperate 
animal  had  rushed  and  trampled  oyer  him,  and  disappeared 
through  a  breach  effected  in  one  of  the  treetops  that  had 
hemmed  him  in  and  prevented  his  retreat  from  such  a  doubtful, 
hand-to-hand  encounter.  As  the  discomfited  young  huntsman 
was  rising  to  his  feet,  his  eyes  fell  upon  Phillips,  hurrying  for- 
ward, with  looks:  of  lively  concern ;  which,  however,  as  he 
leaped  into  the  small  open  space  comprising  the  battle-ground, 
and  saw  how  matters  stood,  at  first  gave  place  to  a  ludicrous 
smile,  and  then  to  a  merry  peal  of  laughter. 

"I  can't  say^I  blame  you  much  for  your  merriment,"  said 
Claud,  joining,  though  rather  feebly,  in  the  Laugh,  as  he  brushed 
himself  and  picked  up  his  rifle ;  "  for,  to  be  upset  and  run  over 
by  a  bear  would  have  been  about  the  last  thing  I  should  have 
dreamed  of  myself." 

"  O  well,"  said  the  other,  checking  his  risibles,  "  it  had  better 
turn  out  a  laughing  than  a  crying  matter,  as  it  might  have  done 
if  you  had  kept  your  footing ;  for,  if  you  had  not  been  over- 
thrown and  run  over,  you  would  have  probably,  in  this  cramped- 
up  place,  stood  up  to  be  hugged  and  scratched  in  a  way  not  so 
very  agreeable ;  and  I  rather  guess,  under  the  circumstances, 
you  may  as  well  call  yourself  satisfied  to  quit  so ;  for  the  bears 
have  left  you  with  a  whole  skin  and  unbroken  ribs,  though 
they  have  escaped  themselves  where,  with  our  time,  it  will  be 
useless  to  follow  them.  But,  if  you  had  not  fired  just  as  you 
did,  we  would  have  had  all  three  of  them." 

"  What !  have  you  killed  one  ?  "  asked  Claud,  in  surprise. 

"  To  be  sure  I  have,"  answered  the  hunter.  "  Then  you 
supposed  it  was  one  of  your  rough  visitors  I  fired  at,  and 
missed  ?  No,  no.  I  had  got  one  of  the  black  youngsters  in 
range,  and  was  waiting  for  a  chance  at  the  old  one,  knowing  if 
I  killed  her  first  the  young  ones  would  take  to  the  trees,  where 
they  could  easily  be  brought  down.  Seeing  them,  however,  on 
the  point  of  running  at  the  report  of  your  rifle,  I  let  drive  at 
the  only  one  I  was  sure  of;  when  the  two  others,  they  being 

15* 


174  GAUT   GURLEY. 

nearly  between  us,  tacked  about  and  ran  towards  you.  Bat  go 
get  your  'coon,  and  come  along  this  way,  to  look  at  my  black 
beauty." 

"  How  did  you  know  I  had  killed  a  'coon  ?  "  inquired  the 
other. 

"  Heard  him  squall  before  you  fired,  then  strike  the  ground 
afterwards  with  a  force  that  I  thought  must  have  killed  him, 
whether  your  bullet  had  or  not,"  replied  the  hunter,  moving  off 
for  his  bear,  with  which,  tugging  it  along  by  a  hind  leg,  he 
soon  joined  Claud,  who  was  threading  his  way  out  with  his 
mottled  trophy  swung  over  his  shoulder. 

"  Why,  a  much  larger  one  than  I  supposed,"  exclaimed  the 
latter,  turning  and  looking  at  the  cub ;  "  really,  a  fine  one ! " 

"  Ain't  he,  now  ?  "  complacently  said  the  hunter.  "  There, 
heft  him ;  must  weigh  over  half  a  hundred,  and  as  fat  as  but- 
ter,— for  which  he  is  doubtless  indebted  to  the  chiefs  cornfield. 
And  I  presume  we  may  say  the  same  of  that  streaked  squ alter 
of  yours,  which  I  see  is  an  uncommonly  large,  plump  fellow. 
Well,"  continued  the  speaker,  shouldering  the  cub,  "  we  may 
now  as  well  call  our  hunt  over,  for  to-day,  —  out  of  this  plaguey 
hole  as  soon  as  we  can,  and  over  the  lakes  to  camp,  as  fast  as 
strong  arms  and  good  oars  can  send  us." 

On,  after  reaching  and  pushing  off  their  now  well-freighted 
canoe,  on,  —  along  the  extended  coast-line  of  this  wild  lake, 
westward  to  the  great  inlet,  up  the  gently  inflowing  waters  of 
that  broad,  cypress-lined  stream,  to  the  Maguntic,  and  then, 
tacking  eastward,  around  the  borders  of  that  still  wilder  and 
more  secluded  lake,  —  on,  on,  they  sped  for  hours,  until  the 
ringing  of  the  axe-fall,  and  the  lively  echo  of  human  voices  in 
the  woods,  apprised  them  of  their  near  approach  to  the  spot 
which  their  companions  had  selected,  both  for  their  night's  rest 
and  permanent  head-quarters  for  the  season. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

"  And  now  their  hatchets,  with  resounding  stroke, 
Hew'd  do^vTi  the  boscage  that  around  them  rose, 
And  the  dry  pine  of  brittle  branches  broke, 
To  yield  them  fuel  for  the  night's  repose ; 
The  gathered  heap  an  ample  store  bespoke. 
They  smite  the  steel :  the  tinder  brightly  glows. 
And  the  fired  match  the  kindled  flames  aAvoke, 
And  light  upon  night's  seated  darkness  broke. 
High  branch'd  the  pines,  and  far  the  colonnade 
Of  tapering  tninks  stood  glimmering  through  the  glen ; 
So  joyed  the  hunters  in  their  lonely  glade.'' 

'^  Hurra!  the  stragglers  have  arrived ! "  exclaimed  Codman, 
the  first  to  notice  the  hunter  and  Claud  as  they  shot  into  the 
mouth  of  the  small,  quiet  river,  on  whose  bank  was  busily  pro- 
gressing the  work  of  the  incipient  encampment.  "  Hurra  for 
the  arrival  of  the  good  ship  Brag,  Phillips,  master ;  but  where 
is  his  black  duck,  with  a  big  trout  to  its  foot  ?  Ah,  ha  !  not 
forthcoming,  hey  ?     Kuk-kuk-ke-oh-o ! " 

"  Don't  crow  till  you  see  what  I  have  got,  Mr.  Trapper," 
replied  the  hunter,  running  in  his  canoe  by  the  sides  of  those 
of  his  companions  on  shore.  "  Don't  crow  yet,  —  especially 
over  the  failure  of  what  I  didn't  undertake :  you  or  Mr.  Carvil 
was  to  furnish  the  big  trout,  you  will  recollect." 

"  That  has  been  attended  to  by  me,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  company,  I  rather  think,"  remarked  Carvil,  now  advancing 
towards  the  bank  with  the  rest.  "  Not  only  one  big  trout,  but 
two  more  with  it,  was  drawn  in  by  my  method,  on  the  way." 

"O,  accident,  accident!"  waggishly  rejoined  the  trapper; 
"  they  were  hooked  by  mere  accident.     The  fact  is,  the  trouts 

(175) 


176  GAUT  gueley;   or, 

are  so  thick  in  these  lakes  that  a  hook  and  line  can't  be  drawn 
such  a  distance  through  them  without  getting  into  some  of 
their  mouths.  But,  allowing  it  otherwise,  it  don't  cure  but  half 
of  your  case,  Mr.  Hunter.     Where  is  the  black  duck  ?  " 

"  Here  is  the  black  duck,"  responded  the  hunter,  stepping 
ashore  and  drawing  his  cub  out  from  under  some  screening 
boughs  in  the  bow  of  the  boat. 

A  lively  shout  of  laughter  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  com- 
pany at  the  disclosure,  showing  alike  their  amusement  at  the 
practical  way  in  which  the  hunter  had  turned  the  jokes  of  the 
teasing  trapper,  and  their  agreeable  surprise  at  his  luck  in  the 
uncertain  hunting  cruise  along  the  shores,  on  which  they,  with- 
out any  expectation  of  his  success,  had  banteringly  dispatched 
him.  "  Ah,  I  think  you  may  as  well  give  up  beat,  sill  round, 
]Mr.  Codman,"  observed  Mark  Elwood,  after  the  surprise  and 
laughter  had  subsided.  "  But  come  up  here,  neighbor  Phillips, 
and  see  what  a  nice  place  we  are  going  to  have  for  our  camp." 

Leaving  the  game  in  charge  of  Claud  and  Carvil,  who 
volunteered  to  dress  it,  the  rest  of  the  company  walked  up 
with  the  hunter  to  the  spot  where  the  new  shanty  was  in  pro- 
gress, wishing  to  hear  his  opinion  of  the  location  selected,  and 
the  plan  on  which  it  had  been  commenced. 

The  location  to  which  the  company  had  been  guided  by  the 
trapper  was  a  level  space,  about  ten  rods  back  from  the  stream 
here  falling  into  the  lake  from  the  east,  and  at  the  foot  of  a 
rocky  acclivity  forming  a  portion  of  the  southern  side  of  a  high 
ridge  that  ran  down  to  the  lake.  The  first  ten  feet  of  the  rise 
was  formed  by  the  smooth,  even  face  of  a  perpendicular  rock, 
which  from  the  narrow  shelf  at  the  top  fell  off  into  a  less  pre- 
cipitous ascent,  extending  up  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
among  the  stunted  evergreens  and  other  low  bushes  that  par- 
tially covered  it.  About  a  dozen  feet  in  front  of  this  abutting 
rock,  equidistant  from  it,  and  some  fifteen  feet  apart,  stood 
two  spruce  trees,  six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter  at  the  bottom, 
but  tall,  and  tapering  towards  the  top.     These,  the  company. 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  177 

who  had  reached  the  place  about  two  hours  before,  had  con- 
trived, by  rollmg  up  some  old  logs  to  stand  on,  to  cut  off,  and 
fell,  six  or  seven  feet  from  the  ground ;  so  that  the  tall  stumps 
might  serve  for  the  two  front  posts  of  the  proposed  structure. 
And,  having  trimmed  out  the  tops  of  the  two  fallen  trees,  and 
cut  them  into  the  required  lengths,  they  had  laid  them  from 
the  top  of  the  rock  to  the  tops  of  the  stumps,  which  had  been 
first  grooved  out,  so  as  to  receive  and  securely  fasten  the  ends 
of  the  timbers.  These,  with  the  stout  poles  which  they  had 
then  cut  and  laid  on  transversely,  at  short  intervals,  made  a 
substantial  framework  for  the  roof  of  the  shantee.  And,  in 
addition  to  this,  rows  of  side  and  front  posts  had  been  cut, 
sharpened,  driven  into  the  ground  at  the  bottom,  and  securely 
fastened  at  the  top  to  the  two  rafters  at  the  sides  and  the 
principal  beam,  which  had  been  notched  into  them  at  the  lower 
ends  to  serve  for  the  front  plate. 

"  Just  the  spot,"  said  the  hunter,  after  running  his  eye  over 
and  around  the  locality  a  moment,  and  then  going  up  and  in- 
specting the  structure  in  progress.  "  I  thought  Codman  could 
not  miss  so  remarkable  a  place.  I  have  been  thinking  of 
building  a  camp  here  for  several  years ;  but  it  never  seemed  to 
come  just  right  till  this  fall.  Why,  you  all  must  have  worked 
like  beavers  to  get  along  with  the  job  so  well,  and  to  do  it  so 
thoroughly.  The  bones  of  the  thing  are  all  now  up,  as  far  as 
I  can  see,  and  made  strong  enough  to  withstand  all  the  snows 
and  blows  of  half  a  dozen  winters.  So,  now,  nothing  remains 
but  to  put  on  the  bark  covering." 

"  But  how  are  we  to  get  the  bark  covering  ? "  asked  Gaut 
Gurley.     "  Bark  will  not  peel  well  at  this  season,  will  it  ?  " 

"  No,  not  very  well,  I  suppose,"  replied  the  former.  "  But 
I  will  see  what  I  can  do  towards  hunting  up  the  material, 
to-morrow.  A  coat  of  these  spruce  boughs,  spread  over  this 
framework  above,  and  set  up  here  against  the  sides,  will 
answer  for  to-night.  And  this  rigging  up,  gathering  hemlock 
boughs  for  our  beds,  building  a  good  fire  here  in  front,  and 


178  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

cooking  the  supper,  are  all  we  had  better  think  of  attempting 
this  evening ;  and,  as  it  is  now  about  sunset,  let  us  divide  off 
the  labor,  and  go  at  it." 

The  encampment  of  these  adventurous  woodsmen  presented, 
for  the  next  hour,  a  stirring  and  animated  scene.  The  different 
duties  to  be  performed  having  been  apportioned  by  mutual 
agi-eement  among  the  company,  they  proceeded  with  cheerful 
alacrity  to  the  performance  of  their  respective  tasks.  Phillips 
and  Carvil  set  busily  to  work  in  covering,  inclosing,  and  rigging 
up  the  camp, — to  adopt  the  woodsman's  use  of  that  word,  as  we 
notify  the  critic  we  shall  do,  as  often  as  we  please,  albeit  that 
use,  contrary  to  Noah  Webster,  indicates  the  structure  in  which 
men  lodge  in  the  woods,  rather  than  the  place  or  company 
encamping.  Mark  Elwood,  Gaut  Gurley,  and  the  young 
Indian  Tomah,  proceeduig  to  a  neighboring  windfall  of  different 
kinds  of  wood,  went  to  work  in  cutting  and  drawing  up  a  sup- 
ply of  fuel,  among  which,  the  accustomed  backlog,  forestick, 
and  intermediate  kindling-wood,  being  adjusted  before  the 
entrance  of  the  camp,  the  fire  from  the  smitten  steel  and  pre- 
serving punkwood  was  soon  crackling  and  throwing  around  its 
ruddy  glow,  as  it  more  and  more  successfully  competed  with 
the  waning  light  of  the  departing  day.  Claud  and  Codman,  in 
fulfilment  of  their  part  of  the  business  on  hand,  then  unpacked 
the  light  frying-pans,  laid  in  them  the  customary  slices  of  fat 
salted  pork,  and  shortly  had  them  sharply  hissing  over  the  fire, 
preparatory  to  receiving  respectively  their  allotted  quotas  of 
the  tender  and  nutritious  bearsteaks,  or  the  broad  layers  of  the 
rich,  red-meated  trout. 

In  a  short  time  the  plentiful  contents  of  the  pans  were 
thoroughly  cooked,  the  pans  taken  from  the  fires,  the  potatoes 
raked  from  the  glowing  embers,  in  which  they  had  been  roast- 
ing under  the  forestick,  the  brown  bread  and  condiments  brought 
forward,  and  all  placed  upon  the  even  face  of  a  broad,  thin  sheet 
of  cleft  rock,  which  they  had  luckily  found  in  the  adjacent  ledge, 
and  brought  forward  and  elevated  on  blocks  within  the  camp,  to 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  179 

serve,  as  it  well  did,  for  tlieir  sylvan  table.  Gathering  round 
this,  they  proceeded  to  help  themselves,  with  their  camp  knives 
and  rude  trenchers,  split  from  blocks  of  the  freely-cleaving  bass- 
wood,  to  such  kinds  and  portions  of  the  savory  viands,  smoking 
so  invitingly  in  the  pans  before  them,  as  their  inclinations  sever- 
ally prompted.  Having  done  this,  they  drew  back  to  seats  on 
broad  chips,  blocks  of  wood,  piles  of  boughs,  or  other  objects 
nearest  at  hand,  and  began  upon  their  long  anticipated  meal 
with  a  gusto  which  made  them  for  a  while  too  busy  for  conver- 
sation, other  than  an  occasional  brief  remark  on  the  quality  of 
the  food,  or  some  jocose  allusion  to  the  adventures  of  the  day. 
After  they  had  finished  their  repast,  however,  and  cleared  away 
the  relics  of  the  supper,  together  with  the  few  utensils  they  had 
used  in  cooking  and  eating  it,  they  replenished  their  fire  ;  and, 
while  the  cheerful  light  of  its  fagot-fed  blaze  was  flashing  up 
against  the  dark  forest  around,  and  shooting  away  through  the 
openings  of  the  foliage  in  long  glimmering  lines  over  the- waters 
below,  they  all  placed  themselves  at  their  ease, —  some  sitting  on 
blocks,  some  leaning  against  the  posts,  and  some  reclining  on 
piles  of  boughs,  —  and  commenced  the  social  confab,  or  that  gen- 
eral conversation,  in  which  woodsmen,  if  they  ever  do,  are  prone 
to  indulge  after  the  fatigues  of  the  day  are  over,  and  the  conse- 
quent demands  of  appetite  have  been  appeased  by  a  satisfactory 
meal. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  will  make  a  proposition,"  said  Mark 
Elwood,  in  a  pause  of  the  conversation,  which,  though  it  had 
had  been  engaged  in  with  considerable  spirit,  yet  now  began  to 
flag.  "  I  will  propose,  as  we  have  an  hour  or  two  on  hand,  to 
be  spent  somehow,  before  we  shall  think  of  rolling  ourselves  up 
in  our  blankets  for  the  night,  —  I  propose  that  you  professional 
hunters,  like  Phillips,  Codman,  and  Carvil,  here,  each  give  us  a 
story  of  one  of  your  most  remarkable  adventures  in  the  woods. 
It  would  not  only  while  away  the  hour  pleasantly  for  us  all,  but 
might  furnish  useful  information  and  timely  hints  for  us  begin- 
ners in  this  new  life,  upon  which  we  are  about  to  enter.    For  my 


180 

part,  I  should  like  to  listen  to  a  story,  by  these  old  witnesses,  of 
the  strange  things  they  must  have  encountered  in  the  woods. 
What  say  you,  Gurley,  Claud,  and  Tomah?  Shall  we  put 
them  on  the  stand  ?  " 

"  Yes,  a  good  idea,"  replied  Gaut,  his  habitual  cold  reserve 
relaxing  into  something  like  cordiality;  "I  feel  just  in  the 
humor  to  listen,  —  more  so  than  to  talk,  on  this  hearty  supper. 
Yes,  by  all  means  let  us  have  the  stories." 

"  O,  I  should  be  exceedingly  gratified,"  joined  in  Claud,  in 
his  usual  frank  and  animated  manner. 

"  I  like  that,  too ;  like  to  hear  hunting  story,  always,  much," 
added  Tomah,  with  a  glistening  eye. 

"  Well,  no  particular  objection  as  far  as  I  am  concerned," 
responded  the  trapper,  seriously ;  but  adding,  with  his  old  wag- 
gish gleam  of  the  eye :  "  that  is,  if  you  will  take  what  I  give, 
and  swallow  it  as  easily  as  you  did  Phillips'  fish  story.  But  let 
Carvil,  who  must  be  the  youngest,  go  on  with  his  story  first ;  I 
will  follow  ;  and  Phillips  shall  bring  up  the  rear." 

Carvil,  after  making  a  few  excuses  that  were  not  suffered  to 
avail  him,  commenced  his  narration,  which  we  will  head 

THE    AMATEUR    WOODSJIAN'S     STORY. 

"  I  call  myself  a  woodsman,  and  a  pretty  good  one,  now  ;  but, 
four  years  ago,  I  was  almost  any  thing  else  but  one  of  any  kind. 
I  should  have  then  thought  it  would  have  certainly  been  the 
death  of  me  to  have  lain  out  one  night  in  the  woods.  And  I 
had  no  more  idea  of  ever  becoming  a  hunter  or  trapper,  to  re- 
main out,  as  I  have  since  done,  for  weeks  and  months  in  the 
depths  of  the  wilderness,  with  no  other  protection  than  my  rifle, 
and  no  other  shelter  than  what  I  could  fix  up  with  my  hatchet 
for  the  night,  where  I  happened  to  be,  on  the  approach  of 
darkness,  than  I  now  have  of  undertaking  to  swim  the  Atlantic. 
And,  as  the  circumstances  which  led  to  this  revolution  in  my 
opinions  and  habits,  when  out  of  the  woods,  may  as  much  in- 
terest you,  in  the  account,  as  any  thing  that  happened  to  me 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  181 

after  I  got  into  them,  I  will  first  briefly  tell  you  liow  I  came 
to  be  a  woodsman,  and  then  answer  your  call  by  relating  a 
hunting  incident  which  occurred  to  me  after  I  became  one; 
which,  if  not  very  marvellous,  shall,  at  least,  have  the  merit  of 
truth  and  reality. 

"  I  was  brought  up  rather  tenderly,  as  to  work ;  and  my 
parents,  absurdly  believing  that,  with  my  then  slight  frame,  any 
employment  requiring  any  labor  or  physical  exertion  would  in- 
jure me,  put  me  to  study,  and  assisted  me  to  the  means  of 
entering  college  at  eighteen,  and  of  graduating  at  twenty-two. 
"Well,  I  did  not  misimprove  my  opportunies  for  knowledge,  I 
believe ;  but,  instead  of  gaining  strength  and  manhood  by  my 
exemption  from  labor,  I  grew  feebler  and  feebler.  Still,  I  did 
not  know  what  was  wanting  to  give  me  health  and  constitution, 
nor  once  think  that  a  mind  without  a  body  is  a  thing  not  worth 
having ;  and  so  I  went  on,  keeping  within  doors  and  studying  a 
profession,  until  I  found  myself  a  poor,  nervous,  miserable  dyspep- 
tic, and  threatened  with  consumption.  It  was  now  plain  enough 
that,  if  I  would  avoid  a  speedy  death,  something  must  be  done ; 
and,  by  the  advice  of  the  doctors,  who  were  about  as  ignorant 
of  the  philosophy  of  health  as  myself,  I  concluded  to  seek  a 
residence  and  livelihood  in  one  of  the  Southern  States.  Ac- 
cordingly, I  packed  up  and  took  stage  for  Boston,  timing  my 
journey  so  as  to  get  there  the  day  before  the  ship,  on  which  I 
had  previously  ascertained  I  could  find  a  passage,  was  to  sail 
for  Savannah.  But,  the  morning  after  I  arrived,  a  severe  storm 
came  on,  and  the  sailing  of  the  ship  was  deferred  till  the  next 
day  I  so,  having  nothing  to  do,  knowing  nobody  to  talk  with, 
and  the  weather  being  too  stormy  to  go  out  to  see  the  city,  I 
took  to  my  solitary  ropm  in  the  hotel,  where,  fortunately,  there 
were  neither  books  nor  papers  to  prevent  me  from  thinking. 
And  I  did  think,  that  day,  almost  for  the  first  time  in  my  life, 
without  the  trammels  of  fashionable  book -theories,  and  more  ef- 
fectually than  I  had  ever  done  before.  I  had  a  favorite  classmate 
in  college,  whose  name  was  Silas  Wright,  who  had  a  mind  that 
16 


182 

penetrated,  like  liglit,  every  thing  it  was  turned  upon,  and  who 
never  failed  to  see  the  truth  of  a  matter,  though  his  towering 
ambition  sometimes  prevented  him  from  following  the  path 
where  it  led.  In  recalling,  as  I  was  pacing  the  floor  that 
gloomy  day,  my  old  college  friends  and  their  conversation,  I  hap- 
pened to  think  of  what  Wright  once  said  to  me  on  the  subject 
of  health  and  long  life. 

"  *  Carvil,'  said  he,  ^  did  you  know  that  we  students  were 
committing  treason  against  the  great  laws  of  life  which  God  has 
laid  down  for  us?' 

"'No.' 

"  *  Well,  we  are.  Man  was  made  for  active  life,  and  in  the 
open  air.' 

"  '  But  you,  it  seems,  are  not  observing  the  theory  about  which 
you  are  so  positive  ?  ' 

" '  No,  and  don't  intend  to.  To  observe  that,  I  must  relin- 
quish all  thought  of  mounting  the  professional  and  political 
ladder,  even  half  way  to  the  mark  I  must  and  will  reach.  I 
have  naturally  a  strong  constitution,  and  I  calculate  it  will 
last,  with  the  rapid  mounting  I  intend,  till  I  reach  the  top 
round,  and  that  is  all  that  I  care  for.  But  I  shall  know,  all  the 
while,  that  I  am*going  up  like  a  rocket,  whose  height  and  bril- 
liancy are  only  attained  by  the  certain  and  rapid  wasting  of  the 
substance  that  composes  it.  But  the  case  is  different  with 
you,  Carvil.  You  have  a  constitution  yet  to  make,  or  your 
rocket  will  go  out,  before  you  can  get  high  enough,  in  these  days 
of  jostling  and  severe  competition,  to  warrant  the  attempt  of 
mounting  at  all.' 

"  Such  was  one  of  Wright's  intuitive  grasps  at  the  truth,  hid 
under  the  false  notions  of  the  times,  or  the  artificial  theories  of 
books,  which  he  was  wasting  his  life  to  master,  and  often  only 
mastering  to  despise.  And  I,  being  now  earnestly  in  search  of 
the  best  means  of  health,  eagerly  caught  at  his  notion,  which 
placed  the  matter  in  a  light  in  which  I  had  never  before  seri- 
ously viewed .  it,  and,  indeed,  struck  me  with  a  force  that  soon 


THE  TEAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.        "  183 

brought  me  to  a  dead  stand  in  all  my  calculations  for  the  future. 
*  What  is  it/  thought  I,  running  into  a  sort  of  mental  dia- 
logue with  myself,  and  calling  in  what  little  true  science  I  had 
learned,  to  aid  me  in  fully  testing  the  soundness  of  the  notion, 
before  I  finally  gave  in  to  it ;  '  what  is  it  that  hardens  the  mus- 
cles, and  compacts  the  human  system  ? ' — '  Thorough  exercise, 
and  constant  use.' — '  Can  these  be  had  in  the  study-room  ? ' 
*No.' — 'And  what  is  the  invigorating  and  fattening  principle 
of  the  air  we  breathe  ? ' — '  Oxygen.' — '  Can  this  be  had  in  the 
close  or  artificially-heated  room  ? ' — '  No,  except  in  stinted  and 
uncertain  proportions.  It  can  be  breathed  -in  the  open  fields, 
but  much  more  abundantly  in  the  woods.' — '  Well,  what  do  I 
need  ?  ' — '  Only  hardening  and  invigorating.' — '  But  shall  I  go 
to  the  relaxing  clime  of  the  South  for  this  ?  ' — '  No ;  the  north- 
ern wilderness  were  a  hundred  times  better.' — '  It  is  settled, 
then.' — '  Landlord,'  I  cried  aloud,  as  I  saw  that  personage  at 
that  moment  passing  by  my  partly  open  door,  '  when  does  the 
first  stage,  going  north,  start  ?  ' 

'  In  twenty  minutes,  and  from  my  door.' 

'  Order  on  my  luggage,  here ;  make  out  your  bill ;  and  I 
will  be  on  hand.' 

"And  I  was  on  hand  at  the  time,  and  the  next  hour  on  my 
way  home  ,  which  I  duly  reached,  but  only  to  start  off  immedi- 
ately to  the  residence  of  a  hunter  acquaintance,  a  dozen  miles 
off,  who,  I  knew,  was  about  to  start  for  the  head-waters  of  the 
Connecticut,  on  his  annual  fall  hunting  expedition.  I  found 
Mm,  joined  him,  and  within  ten  days  was  entering,  with  pack 
and  rifle,  the  unbroken  wilderness,  by  his  side,  though  with 
many  misgivings.  But  my  first  night  out  tested  and  settled 
the  matter  forever.  We  had  had  a  fatiguing  march,  at  least  to 
me,  and  the  last  part  of  it  in  the  rain.  We  had  to  lay  down  in 
a  leaking  camp,  and  I  counted  myself  a  dead  man.  But,  to 
my  astonishment,  I  awoke  the  next  morning,  unhurt,  and  even 
feeling  better  than  I  had  for  a  month.  And  I  constantly  grew 
better  and  hardier,  through  that  and  my  next  year's  cam- 


184:  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

paign  in  that  region,  and  through  the  two  succeeding  ones  I 
made  on  the  Great  Meguntic  ;  where  the  incident  which  I  pro- 
pose to  relate  to  you,  it  being  my  best  strike  in  moose-hunting, 
occurred,  and  which  happened  in  this  wise : 

i'  It  was  a  raw,  gloomy  day  in  November,  and  I  had  been 
lazily  lying  in  my  solitary  camp,  on  the  borders  of  this  mag- 
nificent lake,  all  the  forenoon.  But,  after  dinner,  I  began  to 
feel  a  little  more  like  action,  and  soon  concluded  I  would  ex- 
plore a  sort  of  creek-looking  stream,  four  or  five  rods  wide, 
which  I  had  noticed  entering  the  lake  about  a  mile  off",  but  which 
I  had  never  entered.  Accordingly,  I  loaded  my  rifle,  took  my 
powder-horn,  put  two  spare  bullets  in  my  vest-pocket,  not  sup- 
posing I  could  have  use  for  more,  entered  my  canoe,  and  pulled 
leisurely  away  for  the  place.  After  reaching  and  entering  this 
sluggish  stream,  I  went  on  paddling  and  pushing  my  way  along 
through  and  under  the  overhanging  bushes  and  treetops,  some- 
thing like  half  a  mile,  when  I  came  to  higher  banks  and  a  series 
of  knolls  jutting  down  to  the  stream,  which,  with  frequent 
sharp  curves  and  crooks,  wound  its  way  among  them.  On  turn- 
ing one  of  these  sharp  points,  my  eyes  suddenly  encountered  a 
sight  that  made  my  heart  jump.  On  a  high,  open,  and  almost 
bare  bluff,  directly  before  me,  and  not  fifteen  rods  distant,  stood 
two  tremendous  moose,  as  unconcernedly  as  a  pair  of  oxen 
chewing  their  cuds,  or  dozing  in  a  pasture.  The  last  was 
unusually  large,  the  biggest  a  monster,  appearing,  to  my  wide- 
opened  eyes,  with  his  eight  or  nine  foot  height,  and  ten  or  eleven 
foot  spread  of  antlers,  as  he  stood  up  there  against  the  sky, 
like  some  reproduced  mastodon  of  the  old  legends.  Quietly 
falling  back  and  running  in  under  a  screening  treetop,  I  pulled 
down  a  branch  and  put  in  under  my  foot  to  hold  and  steady  my 
canoe.  When  I  raised  my  rifle,  I  aimed  it  for  the  heart  of  the 
big  moose,  and  fired.  But,  to  my  great  surprise,  the  animal 
never  stirred  nor  moved  a  muscle.  Supposing  I  had  somehow 
unaccountably  missed  hitting  him,  even  at  all,  I  fell,  with  ner- 
vous haste,  to  reloading  my  piece ;  and,  having  got  all  right,  as 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  185 

I  supposed,  I  raised  it  this  time  towards  the  smaller  moose, 
standing  a  little  nearer  and  presenting  a  fairer  mark ;  took  a 
long  and  careful  aim,  and  again  let  drive  ;  but  again  without 
the  least  effect.  Utterly  confounded  to  have  missed  a  second 
time,  with  so  fair  a  shot,  I  stood  half  confused  a  moment,  first 
querying  whether  something  was  not  the  matter  with  my  eyes, 
and  then  thinking  of  stories  I  had  heard  of  witches  turning 
away  bullets  from  their  object.  But  I  soon  mechanically  began  to 
load  up  again ;  and,  having  got  in  my  powder,  I  put  my  hand 
in  my.  pocket  for  a  bullet,  when  I  found  there  both  the  balls  I 
had  brought  with  me  from  camp,  and  consequently  knew  that, 
in  my  eager  haste  in  loading  for  my  last  shot,  I  had  neglected 
to  put  in  any  bullet  at  all !  But  I  now  put  in  the  bullet,  looked 
at  it  after  it  was  entered,  to  make  sure  it  was  there,  and  then 
felt  it  all  the  way  down,  till  I  had  rammed  it  home.  I  then 
raised  the  luckless  piece  once  more,  uncertain  at  first  which  of 
the  two  moose  I  should  take,  this  time.  But,  seeing  the  smaller 
one  beginning  to  move  his  head  and  lay  back  his  horns,  which 
I  well  enough  knew  was  his  signal  for  running,  I  instantly 
decided  to  take  him,  took  a  quick,  good  aim,  and  fired.  With 
three  dashing  bounds  forward,  the  animal  plunged  headlong  to 
the  ground.  Knowing 'that  one  to  be  secure,  at  least,  I  then 
turned  my  attention  to  the  big  one.  To  my  astonishment,  he  was 
still  there,  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  firing,  had  not  moved  an 
inch.  But,  before  I  got  loaded  for  another  trial  upon  him,  I 
looked  up  again,  when  a  motion  in  his  body  had  become  plainly 
visible.  Presently  he  began  to  sway  to  and  fro,  like  a  rocking 
tower,  and,  the  next  moment,  went  over  broadside,  with  a  thun- 
dering crash,  into  the  bushes.  My  first  shot,  it  appeared,  had, 
after  all,  done  the  business,  having  pierced  his  lungs  and  caused 
an  inward -flow  of  blood,  that  stopped  his  breath  at  the  time  he 
fell.  All  was  now  explained,  except  the  wonder  that  such  shy 
animals  should  stand  so  much  firing  without  running.  But 
the  probability  is,  that,  not  seeing  me,  they  took  the  reports  of 
my  rifle  for  some  natural  sound,  such  as  that  of  thunder,  or  the 
16* 


186  GAUT  gurlet;    oe, 

falling  of  a  tree ;  while,  perhaps,  the  great  one,  when  he  was 
hit,  was  too  much  paralyzed  to  move,  by  the  rupture  of  some 
important  nerve.  But,  however  that  may  be,  you  have  the 
facts  by  which  to  judge  for  yourselves.  And  I  have  now  only 
to  add,  that,  having  gone  to  the  spot,  bled,  partially  dressed  the 
animals,  and  got  them  into  a  condition  to  be  left,  I  went  off  to 
the  nearest  camps  and  raUied  out  help ;  when,  after  much  toil 
and  tugging,  we  got  the  carcases  home  to  my  shanty,  for  pres- 
ent eating,  curing,  and  distributing  among  the  neighboring 
hunters,  who  soon  flocked  in  to  congratulate  me. on  my  singular 
good  luck,  and  receive  their  ever  freely-bestowed  portions,  and 
who  unanimously  pronounced  my  big  prize  the  largest  moose 
ever  slain  in  all  the  regions  of  the  Great  Megantic." 

THE    trapper's    STORY. 

"  My  story,"  commenced  the  trapper,  who  was  next  called  on 
for  his  promised  contribution  to  the  entertainment  of  the  evening, 
"my  story  is  of  a  different  character  from  the  one  you  have  just 
heard.  It  don't  run  so  much  to  the  great  and  terrible  as  the 
small  and  curious.  It  may  appear  to  you  perhaps  a  little  queer, 
in  some  parts  ;  but  which,  after  the  modest  drafts  that  have  been 
made  on  my  credulity,  you  will,  of  course,  have  the  good  man- 
ners to  believe.  It  relates  to  an  adventure  in  beaver-hunting, 
which  I  met  with,  many  years  ago,  on  Moosehead  Lake,  where 
I  served  my  apprenticeship  at  trapping.  I  had  established 
myself  in  camp,  the  last  of  August,  about  the  time  the  beavers, 
after  having  collected  in  communities,  and  established  their 
never-failing  democratic  government,  generally  get  fairly  at 
work  on  their  dams  and  dwelling-houses,  for  the  ensuing  cold 
months,  in  places  along  the  small  streams,  which  they  have 
looked  out  and  decided  on  for  the  purpose.  I  was  thus  early 
on  the  ground,  in  order  to  have  time,  before  I  went  to  other 
hunting,  to  look  up  the  localities  of  the  different  societies,  so 
that  I  need  not  blunder  on  them  and  disturb  them,  in  the  chase 
for  other  anunals,  and  so  that  I  should  know  where  to  find 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  187 

them,  when  their  fur  got  thick  enough  to  warrant  the  onslaught 
upon  them  which  I  designed  to  make. 

"  In  hunting  for  these  locaKties  in  the  vicinity  around  me,  I 
soon  unexpectedly  discovered  marks  of*what  I  thought  must 
be  a  very  promising  one,  situated  on  a  small  stream,  not  over 
half  a  mile  in  a  bee-line  over  the  hills  from  my  camp.  When 
I  discovered  the  place,  —  as  I  did  from  encountering,  at  short 
intervals  in  the  woods,  two  wolverines,  always  the  great  enemy 
and  generally  the  prowling  attendant  of  assembled  beavers,  — 
these  curious  creatures  had  just  begun  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
their  dam.  And  the  place  being  so  near,  and  the  nights  moon- 
light, I  concluded  I  would  go  over  occasionally,  evenings,  —  the 
night  being  the  only  time  when  they  can  ever  be  seen  engaged 
on  their  work,  —  and  see  if  I  could  gain  some  covert  near  the 
bank,  where,  unperceived,  I  might  watch  their  operations,  and 
obtain  some  new  knowledge  of  their  habits,  of  which  I  might 
thereafter  avail  myself,  when  the  season  for  hunting  them 
arrived.  Accordingly,  I  went  over  that  very  evening,  in  the 
twihght,  secured  a  favorable  lookout,  and  laid  in  wait  for  the 
appearance  of  the  beavers.  Presently  I  was  startled  by  a  loud 
rap,  as  of  a  small  paddle  struck  flatwise  on  the  water,  then  an- 
other, and  another,  in  quick  succession.  It  was  the  signal  of 
the  master  workman,  for  all  the  workers  to  leave  their  hiding- 
places  in  the  banks,  and  repau'  to  their  labors  in  making  tlie 
dam.  The  next  moment  the  whole  stream  seemed  to  be  alive 
with  the  numbers  in  motion.  I  could  hear  them,  sousing  and 
plunging  in  the  water,  in  every  direction,  —  then  swimming  and 
puffing  across  or  up  and  down  the  stream,  —  then  scrambling 
up  the  banks,  —  then  the  auger-like  sound  of  their  sharp  teeth, 
at  work  on  the  small  trees,  —  then  soon  the  falling  of  the  trees, 
—  then  the  rustling  and  tugging  of  the  creatures,  in  getting  the 
fallen  trees  out  of  the  water,  —  and,  finally,  the  surging  and 
splashing  with  which  they  came  swimming  towards  the  ground- 
work of  the  dam,  with  the  butt  end  of  those  trees  in  their 
mouths.     The  line  of  the  dam  they  had  begun,  passed  with  a 


188  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

curve  up  stream  in  the  middle,  so  as  to  give  it  more  strength  to 
resist  the  current ;  across  the  low-water  bed  of  the  river  some 
five  rods ;  and  extended  up  over  the  first  low  bank,  about  as  much 
farther,  to  a  second  and  higher  bank,  which  must  have  bounded 
the  water  at  the  greatest  floods.  They  had  already  cut, 
drawn  on,  and  put  down,  a  double  layer  of  trees,  with  their 
butts  brought  up  evenly  to  the  central  line,  and  their  tops  point- 
ing in  opposite  directions,  —  those  of  one  layer,  or  row,  pointing 
up,  and  those  of  the  other,  down  stream.  Among  and  under 
this  line  of  butts  had  been  worked  in  an  extra  quantity  of  limbs, 
old  wood,  and  short  bushes,  so  as  to  give  the  centre  an  elevation 
of  a  foot  or  two,  over  the  lowest  part  of  the  sides,  which,  of 
course,  fell  off  considerably  each  way  in  the  lessening  of  the 
tops  of  the  trees,  thus  put  down.  Over  all  these  they  had 
plastered  mud,  mixed  in  with  stones,  grass,  and  moss,  so  thick  as 
not  only  to  hold  down  securely  the  bodies  of  the  trees,  but 
nearly  conceal  them  from  sight. 

"  Scarcely  had  I  time  to  glance  over  these  works,  which  I 
had  not  approached  near  enough  to  inspect  much,  before  the 
beavers  from  below,  and  above  came  tugging  along,  by  dozens 
on  a  side  to  the  lower  edges  of  their  embankment,  with  the  loads 
or  rafts  of  trees  which  they  had  respectively  drawn  to  the  spot. 
Lodging  these  on  the  solid  ground,  with  the  ends  just  out  of 
water,  they  relinquished  their  holds,  mounted  the  slopes,  paused  a 
minute  to  take  breath,  and  then,  seizing,  these  ends  again,  drew 
them,  with  the  seeming  strength  of  horses,  out  of  the  water  and 
up  to  the  central  Ime  on  top ;  laid  the  stems  or  bodies  of  the 
trees  parallel,  and  as  near  together  as  they  could  be  got ;  and 
adjusted  the  butt  ends,  as  I  have  stated  they  did  with  the 
foundation  layers,  s.o  as  to  bring  them  to  a  sort  of  joint  on  the 
top.  They  then  all  went  off  for  new  loads,  with  the  exception 
of  a  small  squad,  a  part  of  which  were  still  holding  their  trees 
in  a  small  space  in  the  dam,  where  the  current  had  not  been 
checked,  and  the  other  part  bringing  stones,  till  they  had  con- 
fined the  trees  down  to  the  bottom,  so  that  they  would  not  be 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  189 

swept  away.  This  task  of  filling  the  gap,  however,  after  some 
severe  struggling  with  the  current,  was  before  long  accom- 
plished ;  when  those  engaged  upon  it  joined  in  the  common  work, 
in  which  they  steadily  persevered  till  this  second  double  layer 
of  trees,  with  the  large  quanties  of  short  bushes  which  they 
brought  and  wove  into  the  chinks,  near  the  top,  was  com- 
pleted, through  the  whole  length  of  their  dam.  They  then  col- 
lected along  on  the  top  of  the  dam,  and  seemed  to  hold  a  sort  of 
consultation,  after  which  they  scattered  for  the  banks  of  the 
stream,  but  soon  returned,  walking  on  their  hind  legs,  and 
each  bringing  a  load  of  mud  or  stones,  held  between  his 
fore  paws  and  throat.  These  loads  were  successively  de- 
posited, as  they  came  up,  among  the  stems  and  interlacing 
branches  of  the  trees  and  bushes  they  had  just  laid  down,  giving 
each  deposited  pile,  as  they  turned  to  go  back,  a  smart  blow 
with  the  flat  of  their  broad  thick  tails,  producing  the  same 
sound  as  the  one  I  have  mentioned  as  the  signal-raps  for  call- 
ing them  out  to  work,  only  far  less  loud  and  sharp,  since  the 
former  raps  were  struck  on  water,  and  the  latter  on  mud  or 
rubbish.  Thus  they  continued  to  work,  —  and  work,  too,  with 
a  will,  if  any  creatures  ever  did,  —  till  I  had  seen  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  last  layers  plastered  over. 

"  Thinking  now  I  had  seen  all  that  would  be  new  and  use- 
ful to  me,  I  noiselessly  crept  away  and  returned  to  camp,  to  lay 
awake  half  the  night,  in  my  excitement,  and  to  dream,  the  other 
half,  about  this  magnificent  society  of  beavers,  whose  numbers 
I  could  not  make  less  than  three  dozen.  I  did  not  go  to  steal 
another  view  of  the  place  for  nearly  a  week,  and  then  went  in 
the  daytime,  there  now  being  no  moon,  till  late, —  when,  to  my 
surprise,  I  found  the  dam  finished,  and  the  river  flowed  into  a 
pond  of  several  acres,  while  on  each  side,  ranged  along,  one 
after  another,  stood  three  family  dwellings  in  different  states  of 
progress  ;  some  of  them  only  rising  to  the  surface  of  the  water^ 
showing  the  nature  of  the  structure,  which,  you  know,  is  built  up 
with  short,  small  logs,  and  mud,  in  a  squarish  form,  of  about  the 


190 

size  of  a  large  chimney;  while  others,  having  been  built  up  ia 
foot  or  two  above  the  water,  and  the  windows  fashioned,  had 
been  arched  over  with  mud  and  sticks,  and  were  already  nearly 
finished. 

"  Knowing  that  the  establishment  was  now  so  nearly  com- 
pleted that  the  beavers  would  not  relinquish  it  without  being 
disturbed  by  the  presence  of  a  human  foe,  —  which  they  will 
sometimes  detect,  I  think,  at  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distance, 
—  I  concluded  to  keep  entirely  away  from  them  till  the  time  of 
my  contemplated  onslaught,  which  I  finally  decided  to  begin 
on  one  of  the  first  days  of  the  coming  November. 

"  Well,  what  with  hunting  deer,  bear,  and  so  on,  for  food, 
and  lynx,  otter,  and  sable,  for  furs,  the  next  two  months  passed 
away,  and  the  long  anticipated  November  at  length  arrived ; 
when,  one  dark,  cloudy  day,  having  cut  a  lot  of  bits  of  green 
wood  for  bait,  got  out  my  vial  of  castor  to  scent  them  with,  and 
got  my  steel  traps  in  order,  with  these  equipments  and  my 
rifle  I  set  off,  for  the  purpose  of  commencing  operations,  of  some 
kind,  on  my  community  of  beavers.  On  reaching  the  spot,  I 
crept  to  my  old  covert  with  the  same  precautions  I  had  used  on 
my  former  visits,  thinking  it  likely  enough  that,  on  so  dark  a 
day,  some  of  the  beavers  might  be  out ;  and,  wishing  to  know 
how  this  was,  before  proceeding  openly  along  the  banks  to 
look  out  the  right  places  to  set  my  traps,  I  listened  a  while,  but 
could  hear  no  splashing  about  the  pond,  or  detect  any  other 
sounds  indicating  that  the  creatures  were  astir ;  but,  on  peering 
out,  I  saw  a  large,  old  beaver  perched  in  a  window  of  one  of 
the  beaver-houses  on  the  opposite  shore.  I  instinctively  drew 
up  my  rifle,  —  for  it  was  a  fair  shot,  and  I  knew  I  could  draw 
him,  —  but  I  forbore,  and  contented  myself  with  watching  his 
motions.  I  might  have  lain  there  ten  minutes,  perhaps,  when 
this  leader,  or  judge  in  the  beaver  Israel,  as  he  soon  showed 
himself  to  be,  quietly  slid  out  into  the  water,  swam  into  a 
central  part  of  the  pond,  and,  after  swimming  twice  or  three 
times  round  in  a  small  circle,  lifted  his  tail  on  high,  and  slowly 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  191 

and  deliberately  gave  three  of  those  same  old  loud  and  startling 
raps  on  the  water.  He  then  swam  back  to  his  cabin,  and  as- 
cended an  open  flat  on  the  bank,  where  all  the  underbrush  had 
been  cut  and  cleared  off  in  building  the  dam.  In  a  few  minutes 
more,  a  large  number  of  beavers  might  be  seen  hastening  to  the 
spot,  where  they  ranged  themselves  m  a  sort  of  circle,  so  as  just ' 
to  inclose  the  old  beaver  which  came  first,  and  which  had  now 
taken  his  stand  on  a  little  moss  hillock,  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  little  opening,  to  which  he  had  thus  called  them,  and,  evi- 
dently, for  some  important  public  purpose.  Soon  another  small 
band  of  the  creatures  made  their  appearance  on  the  bank  above, 
seeming  to  have  in  custody  two  great,  lubberly,  cowed-down 
looking  beavers,  that  they  were  hunching  and  driving  along,  as 
legal  officers  sometimes  have  to  do  with  their  prisoners,  when 
taking  them  to  some  dreaded  punishment.  When  this  last  band 
reached  the  place,  with  these  two  culprit-looking  fellows,  they 
pushed  them  forward  in  front  of  the  judge,  as  we  will  call  him, 
and  then  fell  into  the  ranks,  so  as  to  close  up  the  circle.  There 
was  then  a  long,  solemn  pause,  in  which  they  all  kept  still  in 
their  places  round  the  prisoners,  which  had  crouched  sneaking 
down,  without  stirring  an  inch  from  the  places  where  they  had 
been  put.  Soon,  however,  a  great,  fierce,  gruff-appearing 
beaver, left  the  ranks,  and,  advancing  a  few  steps  within  them, 
reared  himself  on  his  haunches,  and  began  to  sputter  and  gibber 
away  at  a  great  rate,  making  his  fore-paws  go  like  the  hands 
of  some  over-heated  orator ;  now  motioning  respectfully  towards 
the  judge,  and  now  spitefully  towards  the  prisoners,  as  if  he 
was  making  bitter  accusations,  and  demanding  judgment  against 
them.  After  this  old  fellow  had  got  through,  two  or  three 
others,  in  turn,  came  forward,  and  appeared  also  to  be  holding 
forth  about  the  matter,  but  in  a  far  milder  manner  than  the 
other,  which  I  now  began  much  to  dislike  for  his  spitefulness, 
and  in  the  same  proportion  to  pity  the  two  poor  objects  of  his 
evident  malice.  There  was  then  another  long  and  silent  pause, 
after  which,  the  judge  proceeded  to  utter  what  appeared  to  be 


192  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

his  sentence ;  and,  having  brought  it  to  a  conclusion,  he  gave  a 
rap  with  his  tail  on  the  ground.  At  this  signal,  the  beavers 
in  the  ranks  advanced,  one  after  another,  in  rapid  succession 
toward  the  prisoners,  and,  circling  round  them  once,  turned 
and  gave  each  one  of  them  a  tremendous  blow  with  their  tails 
over  the  head  and  shoulders  ;  and  so  the  heavy  blows  rapidly 
fell,  whack,  whack,  whack,  till  every  beaver  had  taken  his  part 
in  the  punishment,  and  till  the  poor  prisoners  keeled  over,  and 
lay  nearly  or  quite  dead  on  the  ground.  The  judge  beaver  then 
quietly  left  his  stand  and  went  off;  and,  following  his  example, 
all  the  rest  scattered  and  disappeared,  except  the  spiteful  old 
fellow  that  had  so  raised  my  dislike,  by  the  rancor  he  displayed 
in  pressing  his  accusations,  and,  afterwards,  by  giving  the  cul- 
prits an  extra  blow,  when  it  came  his  turn  t#  strike  them.  He 
now  remained  on  the  ground  till  all  the  rest  were  out  of  sight, 
when,  —  as  if  to  make  sure  of  finishing  what  little  remains  of  life 
the  others,  in  their  compunction,  might  have  left  in  the  victims, 
so  as  to  give  them,  if  they  were  not  quite  killed  by  the  terrible 
bastinadoing  they  had  i^eceived,  a  chance  to  revive  and  crawl 
off,  —  he  ran  up,  and  began  to  belabor  them  with  the  greatest 
fury  over  the  head.  This  mean  and  malicious  addition  to  the 
old  fellow's  previously  unfair  conduct  was  too  much  for  me  to 
witness,  and  I  instantly  drew  my  rifle  and  laid  him  dead  beside 
the  bodies  he  was  so  rancorously  beating.  Wading  the  stream 
below  the  dam,  I  hastened  to  my  prizes,  finished  their  last 
struggles  with  a  stick,  seized  them  by  their  tails,  and  dragged 
them  to  the  spot  I  had  just  left ;  and  then,  after  concealing  my 
traps,  with  the  view  of  waiting  a  few  days  before  I  set  them,  so 
as  to  give  the  society  a  chance  to  get  settled,  I  tugged  the  game 
I  had  so  strangely  come  by,  home  to  camp,  where  a  more  par- 
ticular examination  showed  them  to  be  the  three  largest  and 
best-furred  beavers  I  had  ever  taken. 

"  This  brings  me  to  the  end  of  the  unaccountable  affair,  and 
all  I  can  say  in  explanation  of  it ;  for  how  these  creatures, 
ingenious  and  knowing  as  they  are,  should  have  the  intelligence 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  193 

to  make  laws,  —  as  this  case  seems  to  pre-suppose, — get  up  a 
regular  court,  try,  sentence,  and  execute  offenders ;  what  these 
offenders  had  done,  —  whether  they  were  thievish  interlopers 
from  some  other  society,  or  whether  they  had  committed  some 
crime,  such  as  burglary,  bigamy,  or  adultery,  or  high  treason, 
or  whether  they  had  been  dishonest  office-holders  in  the  society 
and  plundered  the  common  treasury,  is  a  mystery  which  you  can 
solve  as  well  as  I.  Certainly  you  cannot  be  more  puzzled  than  I 
have  always  been,  in  giving  the  matter  a  satisfactory  explanation. 
"  And  now,  in  conclusion,  if  you  wish  to  know  how  I  after- 
wards succeeded  in  taking  more  of  this  notable  society  of 
beavers,  I  have  only  to  say,  that,  having  soon  commenced  op- 
erations anew,  I  took,  before  I  quit  the  ground  that  fall,  by  rifle, 
by  traps,  by  digging  or  hooking  them  out  of  their  hiding  places 
in  the  banks,  and,  finally,  by  breaking  up  their  dwelling-houses, 
twenty-one  beavers  in  all ;  making  the  best  lot  which  I  ever  had 
the  pleasure  of  carrying  out  of  the  woods,  and  for  which,  a  month 
or  two  after,  I  was  paid,  in  market,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  hard  dollars." 

THE    OLD    hunter's    STORY. 

"I  never  but  once,"  commenced  the  hunter,  who  had  an- 
nounced himself  ready  with  the  last  story,  when  called  on  for 
that  purpose  by  his  comrades,  after  they  had  commented  to 
their  liking  on  the  trapper's  strange  adventure,  —  "I  never  but 
once,  in  my  whole  life,  became  afraid  of  encountering  a  wild 
beast,  or  was  too  much  unnerved  in  the  presence  of  one  to  fire 
my  rifle  with  certainty  and  effect.  But  that,  in  one  event,  I  was 
in  such  a  sorry  condition  for  a  hunter,  I  freely  confess.  And, 
as  you  called  for  our  most  remarkable  adventures,  and  as  the 
occurrence  I  allude  to  was  certainly  the  most  remarkable  one 
/ever  met  with  in  my  hunting  experience,  I  will  relate  it  for 
the  story  you  assign  me. 

"  It  was  aboiit  a  dozen  years  ago,  and  on  the  borders  of  lake 
Parmagena,  a  squarish-shaped  body  of  water,  four  or  five  miles 
17 


194  GAUT  gurley;  or, 

in  extent,  lying  twenty-five  miles  or  so  over  these  mountains  to 
the  northwest  of  us,  and  making  up  the  chief  head-water  of  the 
river  Magalloway.  My  camp  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  principal 
inlet,  and  my  most  frequented  hunting  route  up  along  its  bank. 
On  my  excursions  up  that  river,  I  had  often  noticed  a  deeply- 
wooded,  rough,  and  singularly-shaped  mountain,  which,  at  the 
distance  of  four  or  five  miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  the 
stream,  westward,  reared  its  shaggy  sides  over  the  surrounding 
wilderness,  and  which  I  thought  must  make  one  of  the  best 
haunts  for  bear  and  moose  that  I  had  seen  in  that  region.  So, 
once  having  a  leisure  day,  and  my  fresh  provisions  being  low, 
I  concluded  I  would  take  a  jaunt  up  to  this  mountain,  think- 
ing that  I  should  stand  a  good  chance  to  find  something  there, 
or  on  the  way,  to  replenish  my  larder.  And  accordingly  I 
rigged  up,  after  breakfast,  and,  setting*  my  course  in  what  I 
judged  would  prove  a  bee-line  for  the  place,  in  order  to  save 
distance  over  the  river  route,  I  took  up  my  march  through  the 
woods,  without  path,  trail,  or  marked  trees  to  guide  me. 

"After  a  rough  and  toilsome  walk  of  about  three  hours,  I 
reached  the  foot  of  the  mountain  of  which  I  was  in  search,  and 
seated  myself  on  a  fallen  tree,  to  rest  and  look  about  me.  The 
side  of  the  eminence  next  to  me  was  made  up  of  a  succession  of 
rocky,  heavily-timbered  steeps  and  shelves,  that  rose  like  battle- 
ments before  me,  while,  about  midway,  it  was  pierced  or  notched 
down  by  a  dark,  wild,  thicket-tangled  gorge,  which  extended 
along  back  up  the  mountain,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  penetrate 
beneath,  or  overlook  above  the  tops  of  the  overhanging  trees. 

^'  To  think  of  trying  to  ascend  such  steeps  was  out  of  the 
question ;  and  I  was  debating  in  mind  whether  I  would  at- 
tempt to  go  up  through  that  forbidding  and  pokerish-looking 
gorge,  or,  giving  up  the  job  altogether,  strike  off  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  river,  and  so  go  home  that  way,  when  a  hideous 
yell,  which  brought  me  instantly  to  my  feet,  rose  from  an  upper 
portion  of  the  ravine,  apparently  about  a  hundred  rods  distant. 
I  at  once  knew  it  came  from  a  painter,  or  "  evil  devil,"  as  the 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  195 

Indians  justly  call  that  scourge  and  terror  of  the  woods ;  and, 
from  the  strength  and  volume  of  his  voice,  I  also  knew  he 
must  be  a  large  one,  while,  from  its  savage  sharpness,  I  fur- 
ther conjectured  it  must  be  a  famine  cry,  which,  if  so,  would 
show  the  animal  to  be  a  doubly  ticklish  one  to  encounter. 

"  Feeling  conscious  that  it  was  but  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
avoid  such  an  encounter  as  I  should  be  likely  to  be  favored 
with  if  I  remained  where  I  was,  I  soon  moved  off  in  an  oppo- 
site direction,  steering  at  once  for  the  nearest  point  of  the  river, 
which  was  at  the  termination  of  a  long,  sharp  sweep  of  the 
stream  to  the  west,  and  nearer  by  a  mile  than  in  most  other 
parts  of  its  course.  I  had  not  proceeded  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  before  the  same  savage  screech,  —  which  was  more 
frightful  than  I  can  describe,  being  seemingly  made  up  of  the 
mingling  tones  of  a  man's  and  a  woman's  voice,  raised  to  the 
highest  pitch  in  an  agony  of  rage  or  pain,  —  the  same  awful 
screech,  I  say,  rose  and  thrilled  through  the  shuddering  forest, 
coming  this  time,  I  perceived,  from  the  mouth  of  the  gorge, 
where  the  animal  had  so  quickly  arrived,  found  my  trail,  doubt- 
less, and  started  on  in  pursuit.  I  now,  though  still  not  really 
afraid,  quickened  my  steps  into  a  rapid  walk,  hoping  that,  now 
he  had  got  out  of  the  thickets  of  the  ravine,  he  would  not  fol- 
low me  far  in  the  more  open  woods ;  yet  thinking  it  best,  at  all 
events,  to  put  what  distance  I  could  between  him  and  me, 
without  too  much  disturbing  myself.  Another  of  those  terrific 
yells,  however,  coming  from  a  nearer  point  than  before,  as  fast 
as  I  had  made  my  way  from  him,  told  me  that  the  creature  was 
on  my  tracks,  and  rapidly  gaining  on  me  in  the  race.  I  then 
started  off  at  a  full  run ;  but  even  this  did  not  insure  my  escape, 
for  I  was  soon  startled  by  another  yell,  so  near  and  fierce,  that 
I  involuntarily  turned  round,  cocked  my  rifle,  and  stood  on  the 
defence.  The  next  moment  the  animal  met  my  sight,  as  he  leaped 
up  on  to  the  trunk  of  a  lodged  tree,  where  he  stood  in  open 
view,  eagerly  snuffing  and  glaring  around  him,  about  forty  rods 
from  the  place  where  I  had  been  brought  to  a  stand,  —  revealing 


196  GAUT  gueley;   or, 

a  monster  whose  size,  big  as  I  had  conjectured  it,  perfectly 
amazed  me.  He  could  not  have  been  much  less  than  six  feet 
from  snout  to  tail,  nor  much  short  of  nine,  tail  included.  But 
for  his  bowed-up  back,  gaunter  form,  and  mottled  color,  he 
might  have  passed  for  an  ordinary  lioness.  The  instant  he 
saw  me,  he  began  nervously  fixing  his  paws,  rapidly  swaying 
his  tail,  like  a  cat  at  the  first  sight  of  her  intended  prey,  and 
giving  other  plain  indications  that  he  was  intent  on  having 
me  for  his  dinner. 

"I  had  my  rifle  to  my  shoulder:  it  was  a  fair  shot,  but  still 
I  hesitated  about  firing.  My  experience  with  catamounts, 
which,  though  of  the  same  nature,  are  yet  no  more  to  be  com- 
pared with  a  real  panther,  like  this,  than  a  common  cur  to  a 
stout  bulldog,  had  taught  me  the  danger  of  wounding  without 
killing  them  outright.  If  those  were  so  dangerous  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  what  would  this  be,  already  bent  on  de- 
stroying me  ?  And  should  I  stand,  at  that  distance,  an  even 
chance  to  finish  him,  which  could  only  be  done  by  putting  a 
ball  through  his  brain,  or  spine,  or  directly  through  his  heart  ? 
I  thought  not.  The  distance  was  too  gi-eat  to  be  sure  of  any 
thing  like  that ;  and  besides,  my  nerves,  I  felt,  were  getting  a 
little  unsteady,  and  I  also  found  I  was  losing  my  faith,  which  is 
just  the  worst  thing  in  the  world  for  a  hunter  to  lose.  While 
I  was  thinking  of  all  this,  the  creature  leaped  down,  and,  the 
next  instant,  I  saw  his  head  rise  above  the  bushes,  in  his  pro- 
digious bounds  towards  me.  With  that  glance,  I  turned  and 
ran ;  ran  as  I  never  did  before ;  leaping  over  logs,  and  smashing 
headlong  through  brush  and  bushes,  but  still  distinctly  hearing, 
above  all  the  noise  I  made,  the  louder  crash  of  the  creature's 
footfalls,  striking  closer  and  closer  behind  me.  All  at  once, 
however,  those  crashing  sounds  ceased  to  fall  on  my  ear,  and 
the  thought  that  my  pursuer  had  sprung  one  side  into  an  am- 
bush, from  whence  he  would  pounce  on  me  before  I  could  see 
him,  flashing  over  my  mind,  I  suddenly  came  to  a  stand,  and 
peered  eagerly  but  vainly  among  the  bushes  around  me  for 


THE   TRAPPERS  OF   UMBAGOG.  197 

the  crouching  form  of  my  foe.  While  thus  engaged,  a  seeming 
shadow  passing  over  the  open  space  above  caused  me  to  glance 
upward,  when,  to  my  horror,  I  saw  the  monster  coming  down 
from  a  tree-top,  with  glaring  eyes,  open  mouth,  and  outspread 
claws,  directly  upon  me  !  "With  a  bound,  which  at  any  other 
time  I  should  have  been  utterly  incapable  of  making,  I  threw 
myself  aside  into  the  bushes  just  in  time  to  escape  his  terrible 
embrace  ;  and,  before  he  had  rallied  from  the  confusion  caused 
by  striking  the  ground  and  missing  his  prey,  I  had  gained  the 
distance  of  a  dozen  rods,  and  thrown  myself  behind  a  large 
tree.  But  what  was  now  to  be  done  ?  I  knew,  from  his  trotting 
about  and  snuffing  to  regain  the  sight  and  scent  of  me,  which  I 
could  now  distinctly  hear,  that  he  would  soon  be  upon  me.  If 
I  distrusted  the  certainty  of  my  aim  before  this  last  fright, 
should  I  not  do  if  much  more  now  ?  I  felt  so  ;  and,  as  I  was 
now  within  a  mile  of  the  river,  —  where,  if  I  could  reach  it,  I 
thought  it  possible  to  find  a  way  to  baffle,  at  least,  if  I  did  not 
kill,  my  ruthless  pursuer,  —  I  concluded  that  my  best  chance 
for  life  was  to  run  for  the  place.  But,  in  peering  out  to 
ascertain  the  exact  whereabouts  of  the  painter  before  I 
started,  my  ear  caught  the  sound  of  other  and  different  foot- 
steps ;  and  the  next  moment  I  had  a  glimpse  of  a  bear's 
head,  bobbing  up  and  down  in  his  rapid  course  through  the 
bushes,  as  he  ran  at  right  angles,  with  all  his  might,  directly 
through  the  space  between  me  and  the  painter,  which,  I  saw, 
was  now  just  beginning  to  advance  towards  me,  but  which,  to 
my  great  relief,  had  seen  and  was  turning  in  pursuit  of  the 
flying  and  frightened  bear. 

"  But  still,  fearing  he  would  give  up  tJiat  pursuit,  and  again 
take  after  me,  I  ran  for  the  river,  which  I  at  length  reached, 
and  threw  myself  exhausted  down  on  the  bank.  As  it  hap- 
pened, I  had  struck  the  river  exactly  at  the  intended  point, 
which  was  where  a  small  sand-island  had  been  thrown  up  in 
the  middle  of  the  stream.  To  this  island,  in  case  I  kept  out 
of  the  claws  and  jaws  of  the  painter  till  I  reached  the  river, 
17# 


198  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

I  had  calculated  to  wade  ;  believing,  from  what  I  knew  of  the 
repugnance  of  this  class  of  animals  to  water,  that  he  would  not 
follow  me,  or,  if  he  did,  I  need  not  fail  of  shooting  him  dead 
while  coming  through  the  stream.  But  I  soon  found  that /was 
not  the  only  one  that  had  thought  of  this  island,  in  our  terrible 
extremity. 

"  I  had  lain  but  a  few  minutes  on  the  bank,  before  I  caught 
the  sounds  of  near  and  more  distant  footfalls  approaching  apace 
through  the  forest  above  me.  Starting  up,  I  cocked  my  rifle, 
and  darted  behind  a  bush  near  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  had 
scarcely  gained  the  stand,  when  the  same  bear  that  I  had  left 
fleeing  before  the  painter,  made  his  appearance  a  few  rods 
above  me,  coming  full  jump  down  the  bank,  plunging  into  the 
stream,  and  swimming  and  rushing  amain  for  the  island.  As 
soon  as  he  could  clear  the  water,  he  galloped  ujd  to  the  highest 
part  of  his  new  refuge,  and  commenced  digging,  in  hot  haste, 
a  hole  in  the  sand.  The  instant  he  had  made  an  excavation 
large  and  deep  enough  to  hold  his  body  and  sink  it  below  the 
surface,  he  threw  himself  in  on  his  back,  hurriedly  scratched 
the  sand  at  the  sides  a  little  over  his  belly  and  shoulders,  and 
lay  still,  with  his  paws  stiflly  braced  upwards. 

"  The  next  moment  the  eagerly-pursuing  painter  came  rush- 
ing down  the  bank  to  the  water,  where  the  bear  had  entered 
it ;  when,  after  a  hesitating  pause,  he  gave  an  angry  yell,  and, 
in  two  prodigious  bounds,  landed  on  the  edge  of  the  island. 
Having  raised  my  rifle  for  a  helping  shot,  if  needed,  I  awaited, 
with  beating  heart  and  eyes  wide  open,  the  coming  encounter. 
With  eyes  shooting  fire,  the  painter  hastily  fixed  his  feet,  and, 
with  a  long  leap,  came  down  on  his  intrenched  opponent.  A 
cloud  of  dust  instantly  enveloped  the  combatants,  but  through 
it  I  could  see  the  inefiectual  passes  of  the  painter  at  the  bear's 
head,  and  the  rapid  play  of  the  bear's  hind  paws  under  the 
painter's  belly.  This  bout  between  them,  however,  was  of  but 
short  continuance,  and  terminated  by  the  painter,  which  now 
leaped  suddenly  aside,  and  stood  for  a  moment  eyeing  his  op- 


THE  TRAPPERS. OF  UMBAGOG.         199 

ponent  askance,  as  if  he  had  found  in  those  rending  hind-claws 
ah'eady  much  more  than  he  had  bargained  for.  But,  quickly 
rousing  himself,  he  prepared  for  the  final  conflict ;  and,  back- 
ing to  the  water's  edge,  he  gave  one  short  bound  forward,  and, 
leaping  ten  feet  into  the  air,  came  down  again,  with  a  wild 
screech,  on  his  still  unmoved  antagonist. 

"  This  time,  so  much  more  furiously  flew  up  the  dust  and 
sand  from  the  spot,  that  I  could  see  nothing  ;  but  the  mingling 
growls  and  yells  of  the  desperately-grappling  brutes  were  so 
terrific  as  to  make  the  hair  stand  up  on  my  head.  Presently, 
however,  I  could  perceive  that  the  cries  of  the  assailant,  which 
had  been  becoming  less  and  less  fierce,  were  now  turning  into 
howls  of  pain ;  and,  the  next  moment,  I  saw  him,  rent  and 
bloody,  with  his  entrails  out  and  dragging  on  the  ground  be- 
hind him,  making  off  till  he  reached  the  water  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  island,  when  he  staggered  through  the  current, 
feebly  crawled  up  the  bank,  and  disappeared  in  the  woods, 
where  he  must  have  died  miserably  within  the  hour. 

"  I  went  home  a  grateful  man  ;  leaving  the  bear,  that  had 
done  me  such  good  service,  to  depart  in  peace,  as  I  saw  him 
doing  before  I  left,  apparently  little  injured  from  the  conflict." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

'*  Ours  the  wild  life  the  forest  still  to  range, 
From  toil  to  rest,  and  joy  in  every  change." 

The  low  chirping  of  the  wood-birds,  the  tiny  barkings  of 
the  out-starting  squirrels,  the  hurrying  footsteps  of  the  night- 
prowling  animals,  on  their  way  to  their  coverts,  on  the  land  ; 
and  the  leaping  up  of  fish,  the  flapping  of  the  wings  of  ducks, 
and  the  far-heard,  trumpet-toned  cry  of  the  great  northern  diver, 
on  the  water,  those  unfailing  concomitants  of  approaching  day, 
in  the  watered  wilderness,  early  aroused  the  next  morning  our 
little  band  of  soundlj-sleeping  hunters  from  their  woodsmen's 
feather  beds, — the  soft,  elastic  boughs  of  the  health-giving 
hemlock,  —  and  put  them  on  the  stir  in  building  their  fire.,  and 
making  preparations  for  their  breakfast.  The  business  of  the 
day  before  them  was  the  completion  of  their  camp  building ; 
which,  being  intended,  as  before  mentioned,  for  their  general 
head-quarters  and  storehouse,  required  far  more  care  and  labor 
in  the  construction  than  the  ordinary  structures  that  are  made 
to  serve  for  shelters  for  the  sojourners  of  the  woods.  And,  as 
soon  as  they  had  dispatched  their  morning  repast,  they  rose 
and  prepared  themselves  to  commence  the  task  on  hand.  As 
the  main  part  of  the  company  were  scattering  into  the  woods, 
with  their  hatchets,  in  search  of  straight  poles  to  rib  out  the 
sides  and  roof  of  their  structure,  which  was  the  first  thing  in 
order  to  be  done,  Phillips,  without  explaining  his  object,  quietly 
intimated  to  Codman  a  wish  for  company,  in  a  short  excursion 
with  canoes  up  the  river  ;  and,  the  latter  complying  with  the 
intimation,  and  putting  himself  under  the  hunter's  lead,  the 
two  took  to  their  canoes,  with  each  another  canoe  in  tow,  and 

(200) 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  201 

commenced  rowing  up  the  stream ;  wliicli,  having  run  its  rapid 
and  noisy  race  down  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  a  mile  or  two 
above,  was  here,  with  gentle  pace  and  seeming  reverence,  ad- 
vancing to  the  lake  with  its  welcome  tribute  of  crystal  waters. 

"  Hillo,  there,  Mr.  Hunter ! "  sung  out  the  trapper  to  the 
other,  now  some  distance  ahead,  "  what  may  be  some  of  the 
whys  and  wherefores  of  this  shine  we  are  cutting,  stringing 
along  here  with  canoes  to  our  tails  ?  What  suppose  you  should 
be  telling,  before  a  great  while,  lest  this  end  of  the  fleet  might 
be  missing  ?  " 

"  Soon  show  you,"  replied  the  hunter,  without  turning  his 
head.  "  I  always  liked  the  Indian  fashion  of  answering  ques- 
tions by  deeds  instead  of  words,  where  the  circumstances  ad- 
mit, —  it  is  so  much  more  significant  and  satisfactory,  besides 
the  world  of  lying  it  often  prevents." 

After  rowing  a  short  distance  farther,  in  silence,  the  hunter 
turned  his  canoe  in  shore ;  and,  after  the  other  had  followed  his 
example,  he  said  : 

"  Now,  follow  me  a  few  rods  back  into  this  thicket,  up  here." 
And,  leading  the  way,  he  proceeded  to  what  at  first  appeared 
to  be  an  irregular  pile  of  brush,  lying  by  the  side  of  a  large 
fallen  tree,  but  which,  when  the  top  brush  was  removed,  and  an 
under-layer  of  evergreen  boughs  brushed  aside,  disclosed  a 
large,  compact  collection  of  peeled  spruce  bark,  cut  in  regular 
lengths  of  six  or  seven  feet,  and  in  breadths  of  about  one  foot, 
of  exact  uniformity,  and  made  so  straight  and  flat  by  solid 
packing  that  a  rick  of  sawed  boards  would  have  scarcely  pre- 
sented a  more  smooth  and  even  appearance. 

"  Well,  I  will  give  in,  now,  and  acknowledge  myself  beat  in 
wood-craft,"  said  the  trapper,  comprehending,  at  once,  by  whom 
and  for  what  purpose  this  acceptable  pile  of  covering  material 
had  been  cut,  and  thus  nicely  cured  and  stored  away  for  use. 
"  To  have  done  this,  you  must  have  come  here  in  June,  the 
peeling  month  ;  but  how  came  you  to  think  of  this  process  of 
preparing  the  bark,  or  come  here  at  all  to  do  it,  so  long  before- 


202 

hand,  on  the  uncertainty  of  its  being  needed,  this  fall,  except 
perhaps  by  yourself?  " 

"  Well,  happening  to  think,  one  day,  how  much  better  camps 
might  be  made  from  bark  peeled,  cut,  and  pressed  into  the  re- 
quired lengths  and  shapes,  beforehand,  as  we  prepare  it  for 
our  Indian  canoes,  than  by  following  our  usual  bungling  method, 
I  concluded  to  put  things  in  train  for  trying  the  experiment 
this  fall ;  and  this  fall  especially,  as  I  was  then  calculating, 
unless  you  wished  to  join,  to  hunt  only  in  company  with  the  two 
Elwoods,  and  I  was  desirous  of  getting  up  an  extra  good  camp 
for  them." 

"  You  take  an  unusual  interest  in  the  affairs  of  this  newly- 
come  family,  I  have  noticed." 

"  K  I  do,  I  may  have  my  reasons  for  it." 

"  Special  reasons,  doubtless." 

"Ordinary  reasons  would  be  enough.  In  the  first  place, 
they  are  fine  people,  the  son  and  mother  uncommonly  so,  and 
the  father  also  I  consider  a  well-disposed  man,  but  who  may 
have  some  weak  points  ;  and  this  being  so,  and  the  son  being 
inexperienced  in  dealing  with  designing  men,  a  neighbor,  like 
me,  ought,  I  am  sure,  to  be  unwilling  to  see  any  advantage 
taken  of  them." 

"Yes,  a  fair  reason  enough  for  your  course,  if  you  had  no 
other ;  but  may  be  you  have  other  inducements,  received,  for 
instance,  on  your  visit  to  the  seaside,  the  past  summer." 

"  That  is  all  guess-work,  remember ;  but  come,  let  us  drop 
the  subject,  get  this  bark  into  our  canoes,  and  be  off*  down  the 
river  with  it  to  camp." 

They  did  so ;  and,  on  reaching  camp,  agreeably  surprised 
their  companions  with  the  abundant  supply  of  excellent  ma- 
terial which  they  had  brought  for  covering  the  cabin,  and 
for  which,  when  the  circumstances  became  known,  all  were 
disposed  to  accord  due  credit  to  the  provident  hunter. 

With  the  material  thus  obtained,  the  ribbing  of  the  frame 
having  by  this  time  been  completed,  all  hands  now  commenced 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  203 

the  work  of  laying  on,  fitting,  and  confining  the  pliant  and  close- 
lying  strips  of  bark  to  the  framework  of  the  structure,  both 
above  and  below.  And  with  so  much  assiduity  and  skill  did 
they  prosecute  their  labors,  that  before  night  their  camp  was 
covered  and  inclosed  on  every  side,  and  made  to  present  to  the 
eye,  a  cabin  neat  and  comely  in  appearance,  and  as  tight,  warm, 
and  secure  against  storms,  as  many  a  dwelling-house  in  the 
open  country,  covered  with  boards  and  shingles. 

After  the  company  had  completed  the  roof  and  walls  of  their 
camp,  constructed  a  rude  door,  and  made  what  interior  arrange- 
ments they  deemed  necessary  for  sleeping  and  storing  their 
provisions,  they  went  out,  for  the  hour  or  two  now  remaining 
before  sunset,  and  scattered  for  short  excursions  in  their  canoes 
along  the  neighboring  coves  of  the  lake,  for  the  various  pur- 
poses of  fishing,  shooting  ducks,  or  inspecting  the  shores  for 
indications  of  beaver,  otter,  and  other  classes  of  the  smaller 
fur-animals  of  amphibious  habits.  All  returning,  however,  at 
sunset,  they  proceeded  to  cook  and  eat  their  suppers,  much  in 
the  same  manner  as  on  the  preceding  evening ;  after  which, 
in  compliance  with  the  suggestions  made  by  several  of  the 
company  during  the  day,  they  went  into  a  general  consultation 
for  the  purpose  of  fixing  on  the  different  locations  and  ranges 
of  river  and  forest,  which  each,  or  each  pair  of  them,  should 
take  for  their  hunting  or  'trapping  during  the  season  before 
them.  They  soon  agreed,  in  the  first  place,  without  any  difii- 
culty,  in  making  the  shores  of  the  Oquossak,  the  next  lake 
above,  and  the  last  and  perhaps  largest  of  the  four  great  lakes 
forming  the  chief  links  of  this  singular  chain  of  inland  waters, 
the  base-line  of  their  operations.  Phillips  and  Codman,  having 
procured  a  wide  strip  of  the  outer  bark  of  the  white  birch,  — 
ever  the  woodman's  substitute  for  writing  paper,  when  writing 
becomes  necessary, — then  proceeded  to  draw  a  map,  from  per- 
sonal recollection,  of  the  strangely-irregular  lake  in  question. 
By  this,  wlien  completed,  it  appeared  that  the  main  inlet,  or 
the  uppermost  portion  of  the  Androscoggin  river,  coming  down 


204  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

from  the  north  through  a  chain  of  lakelets,  or  ponds,  and  run- 
ning parallel  with  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  and  but  a  few 
miles  distant  from  it,  entered  into  a  deep,  pointed  bay,  about  a 
third  of  the  Avay  down  the  eastern  shore ;  where  it  was  joined 
by  another  and  scarcely  lesser  river,  coming  from  or  through  a 
different  chain  of  these  lakelets,  scattered  along  far  to  the  east 
and  northeast  of  the  Oquossak;  while  a  third  considerable 
stream  entered  the  lake  at  its  extreme  northwestern  termina- 
tion. These  three  inlets,  that  constituted  all  the  rivers  of  any 
magnitude  running  into  this  lake,  would  not  only  afford,  it  was 
readily  seen,  the  most  desirable  hunting-grounds  in  the  sections 
through  which  they  flowed,  but  give  the  greater  part  of  the 
hunters,  if  they  encamped  in  pairs,  and  had  their  camps  at  the 
mouths  of  these  streams,  as  was  expected,  an  opportunity  of 
locating  in  near  vicinity ;  while  two  more  of  the  remaining 
part  of  the  company  would,  at  the  mouth  of  the  northwestern 
inlet,  be  less  than  five  miles  distant.  This  arrangement  would 
dispose  of  six  of  the  company,  —  two  of  them  on  the  inlet  last 
mentioned,  and  four  on  the  two  rivers  that  entered  the  lake 
together,  —  and  leave  one  to  remain  on  the  Megantic,  to  take 
charge  of  the  head-quarters,  or  store-camp  there,  and  hunt 
anywhere  he  chose  in  its  vicinity.  But  who  the  one  to  be 
placed  in  this  trust  should  be,  was  the  next  question  to  be  de- 
cided. Gaut  Gurley,  who  had  been  secretly  scheming  for  this 
post  ever  since  the  arrangement  which  he  saw  must  necessarily 
create  it  was  agreed  on,  and  who  had  been  insidiously  making 
interest  for  it,  with  all  the  con%any,  except  Phillips  and  Cod- 
man,  now  proposed  that  the  question  should  be  decided  by 
ballot,  and  without  discussion.  And,  the  proposition  being 
seconded  by  Tomah  and  assented  to  by  all,  each  took  a  small 
piece  of  birch  bark,  marked  with  a  coal  the  name  of  the  person 
he  would  vote  for,  and  deposited  it  in  a  hat  placed  on  their 
stone  table  for  the  purpose.  After  all  had  voted,  the  hat  was 
turned  and  the  votes  assorted ;  when  it  appeared  that  four  votes 
had  been  thrown  for  Gaut  Gurley  and  three  for  Mark  Elwood, 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  205 

making  seven  in  all,  and  showing  that  all  the  company  had 
voted. 

"  "Well,  friend  Elwood,"  said  Gaut,  with  a  well-assumed  air 
of  indifference,  when  the  result  was  seen,  "  shall  /  resign  in 
your  favor,  or  you  in  mine  ?     This  thing  should  be  unanimous." 

Elwood  looked  up  inquiringly  at  Gaut,  when  he  read  some- 
thing in  the  countenance  of  the  latter  which  gave  him  to- under- 
stand what  was  expected  of  him,  and  he  accordingly  responded : 
"I  should  suppose  there  could  not  be  much  question  which 
of  the  two,  a  minority  or  a  majority  candidate,  should  ask 
the  other  to  stand  aside,  —  especially  when,  as  in  your  case,  the 
majority  candidate  is  clearly  chosen.  I  voted,  gentlemen,  for 
Mr.  Gurley,"  he  added,  turning  to  the  rest  of  the  company ; 
"  and  I  hope  those  who  voted  for  me  will  cheerfully  acquiesce  in 
the  choice  of  the  majority." 

"  I  am  a  comparative  stranger  to  you  all,"  remarked  Carvil, 
"  and,  though  I  voted  for  Mr.  Elwood,  I  will  yet  very  willingly 
agree  to  the  selection  you  have  made." 

Gaut,  knowino;  well  enouo^h  who  had  thrown  their  votes 
against  him,  now  glanced  at  Phillips  and  Codman ;  but  gather- 
ing from  their  silence  and  demure  and  downcast  looks  that  no 
approving  expression  was  likely  to  be  di-awn  from  either  of 
them,  he  interrupted  the  pause  that  followed  Carvil's  remarks, 
by  saying : 

"  Perhaps,  then,  I  ought  to  accept  the  post  thus  assigned 
me ;  and  on  some  accounts  it  will  come  right  all  round.  I 
should  be  compelled,  any  way,  to  return  once  or  tv/ice  to  the 
settlements  during  our  campaign,  on  business,  and  I  can  attend 
to  that,  and  procure  the  fresh  supplies  of  bread  and  other 
things  we  shall  need,  all  under  one  head.  And,  besides  that,  I 
had  already  made  up  my  mind  I  should  select  this  stream,  and 
the  coves  on  this  lake,  for  my  trapping  and  hunting  for  beaver 
and  other  water  animals,  which  I  once  knew  how  to  take,  in 
preference  to  going  any  farther.  So  I  will  accept  the  post^ 
warrant  the  safe-keeping  of  the  common  property,  and  see 
18 


206  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

what  I  can  do  towards  contributing  my  share  to  the  stock  of 
furs." 

This  point  being  thus  regarded  by  the  company  as  settled, 
they  next  proceeded  to  the  discussion  of  the  more  particular 
duties  which  should  devolve  on  their  chosen  camp-keeper; 
which,  at  length,  resulted  in  the  arrangement  that  he  should 
go  up  with  his  canoe  into  the  Oquossak,  once  a  week,  make 
the  circuit  of  the  lake  so  far  as  to  visit  the  nearest  or  lake- 
shore  camps  of  each  or  each  pair  of  his  companions,  bring 
them  fresh  provisions,  and  take  back  to  head-quarters  all  the 
furs  each  had  caught  in  the  interim,  and  be  held  responsible 
for  the  good  condition  and  safe-keeping  of  all  the  peltries,  and 
other  common  property  of  the  company,  thus  placed  in  liis 
charge.  ^ 

After  this  matter  (which  was  destined  to  have  an  important 
bearing  on  the  fate  and  fortunes  of  more  than  one  of  the  lead- 
ing personages  of  our  story)  was  thus  disposed  of,  they  then,  in 
conclusion  of  the  business  of  the  evening,  proceeded,  by  mutual 
agreement,  to  apportion  the  different  locations  for  hunting  on 
the  upper  lake,  already  fixed  on,  among  the  three  pairs  of 
hunters  the  company  would  now  make ;  decide  what  individuals 
should  join  to  form  each  pair ;  and  what  general  plan  of  opera- 
tions they  should  adopt  after  they  had  got  settled  in  their 
respective  places.  By  the  amicable  arrangement  thus  made, 
Phillips  and  Claud  Elwood  were  to  form  one  of  these  pairs, 
and  fix  their  lake-camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  already 
named  as  coming  in  from  the  east ;  Carvil  and  Mark  Elwood  to 
constitute  another  pair,  and  encamp  at  the  mouth  of  the  great 
inlet  entering  at  the  same  place  ;  while  Codman  and  the  young 
Indian,  Tomah,  who,  from  their  mutual  challenges  in  beaver- 
catching,  had  by  this  time  become  friends,  and  willing  to  hunt 
from  the  same  starting-point,  were  to  have  their  camp  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  coming  in  at  the  northwest  end  of  the  lake. 
By  the  plan  now  adopted,  also,  each  of  these  three  hunting 
parties,  after  they  had  reached  their  respective  destinations  and 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  207 

built  their  camps,  were  to  explore  the  rivers  ten  or  fifteen  miles 
upward  through  the  forest,  and  to  some  suitable  and  convenient 
terminus  of  their  proposed  trapping  and  hunting  range ;  there 
build  a  camp,  in  which  to  lodge  on  their  outward  jaunts ;  and 
mark  off,  on  their  return,  by  blazing  the  trees,  lines  for  setting 
log-traps  for  sable,  marten,  stoat,  or  ermine, — for,  whatever  may 
be  said  to  the  contrary,  the  noted  ermine  of  Europe  is  a  native 
of  our  northern  forests.  These  marked  lines  were  to  diverge 
from  the  upper  camps  along  the  ridges  on  each  side  of  the 
river ;  sometimes  running  many  miles  apart,  then  turning  down 
to  the  stream,  where  indications  of  beaver  and  otter  had  been 
discovered,  so  as  to  afford  a  chance  for  setting  and  tending  steel- 
traps  for  those  animals ;  then  running  back  again  on  to  the  high 
hills  and  ridges ;  but  finally  converging  in,  and  meeting  at  the 
lake  camp.  And,  these  preliminary  steps  being  taken,  every- 
thing would  then  be  in  readiness  for  setting  the  traps,  and  for 
entering  on  the  hopeful  business  of  their  expedition. 

All  these  arrangements  being  now  definitely  settled  and  under- 
stood, the  consultation  was  broken  up,  and  the  company  betook 
themselves  once  more  to  their  sylvan  couches,  calculating  on  an 
early  start  the  next  day  for  their  several  destinations  on  the 
Oquossak,  the  nearest  of  which  was  at  least  a  dozen  miles 
distant. 

Accordingly,  with  the  first  crack  of  dawn  the  next  morning, 
the  loud  and  startling  gallinaceous  cachinnation  of  the  droll  and 
wide-awake  trapper  aroused  the  woodsmen  from  their  slumbers, 
and  warned  them  to  be  up  and  doing.  And  soon  the  whole 
company  were  in  motion,  the  kindled  fire  was  crackling  and 
flashing  up  amidst  the  dry  pine  faggots,  tin-own  on  to  feed  and 
start  it  into  the  steadier  blaze  and  heat  of  more  solid  fuel,  and 
the  process  of  cooking  was  going  busily  forward.  In  a  short 
time  they  were  again  gathered,  in  high  spirits,  round  their  stone 
table,  unconsciously  partaking,  as  the  event  proved,  the  last 
meal  they  were  ever  all  to  enjoy  together  in  the  woods.  But 
let  us  not  anticipate. 


208  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

As  soon  as  they  had  dispatched  their  breakfast,  the  band 
about  to  depart  loaded  their  canoes  with  traps,  guns,  camp- 
kettles,  and  the  provisions  needed  for  immediate  use  ;  and,  wish- 
ing Gaut  Gurlej  a  happy  and  successful  time  at  his  solitary 
station,  pushed  merrily  away  into  the  broad  lake,  turned  their 
course  northward,  and  sped  on  their  voyage.  A  few  miles' 
rowing  brought  them  to  the  great  inlet,  which,  like  the  princi- 
pal inlets  to  the  lakes  below,  was  another  reach  of  the  Andros- 
coggin, flowing  directly  from  the  east  "through  a  channel,  still 
nearly  a  hundred  yards  in  width  and  nearly  three  miles  in 
length,  from  its  entrance  into  one  lake  to  the  point  where  it 
debouches  from  the  other.  After  a  row  of  an  hour  up  this 
channel,  made  interesting  and  impressive  by  the  magnificent 
colonnades  of  princely  pines,  that,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
stood  towering  away  in  lessening  perspective  along  its  banks, 
they  suddenly  emerged  into  the  bright  and  far-stretching  waters 
of  the  unmapped  Oquossak,  which  lay  nestling  and  inflected 
among  the  dark  green  cliffs  of  the  boldly  intersecting  moun- 
tains, like  some  rough,  unshapen  gem,  gleaming  out  from  the 
rubbish  of  a  mine.  And  laying  their  course  northeasterly,  for 
the  distant  bay  receiving  the  waters  of  the  confluent  streams 
before  described,  they  now  pulled  away  through  the  lake,  in  as 
direct  a  line  as  its  irregular  form  would  permit.  And  now, 
skirting  long  reaches  of  its  deeply-wooded  shores,  from  which 
the  old  forest,  never  broken  by  the  axe,  and  rarely  ever  trod 
by  the  foot  of  the  white  man,  was  seen,  stretching  away  back, 
lift  after  lift,  in  pristine  grandeur,  to  the  tall  summits  of  th& 
amphitheatric  mountains,  —  now  shooting  athwart,  under  some 
dark  headland  that  stood  out  boldly  disputing  the  empire  with 
the  water,  and  now  threading  their  way  among  the  clustering 
green  islands  that  studded  the  bright  and  beautiful  expanse,  — 
they  rowed  steadily  onward  for  hours,  and  at  length  were  glad- 
dened by  the  sight  of  the  dim  but  well-remembered  outlines  of 
the  pointed  bay,  whose  farthest  shore  was  to  be  the  home  and 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  209 

haven  for  most  of  their  number,  during  their  present  sojourn 
in  this  wild  and  remote  fastness  of  the  wilderness. 

To  row  in,  disembarl^'their  luggage,  select  sites  for  camps,  to 
build  those  camps,  so  far  as  to  make  them  serve  for  shelters  for 
the  night,  and  to  prepare  and  eat  their  suppers,  occupied  the 
company,  who  had  all  decided  to  remain  there  that  night- 
through  the  remainder  of  the  day  till  bed-time.  The  next 
morning,  after  an  early  breakfast,  Codman  and  Tomah  took 
leave  of  their  companions,  and  proceeded  ^on  further  up  the 
lake  to  their  allotted  station ;  leaving  the  two  Elwoods,  and 
their  respective  hunting  companions,  to  complete  their  camps, 
which  were  situated  in  near  vicinity,  get  all  in  readiness,  and 
the  next  day  enter  in  earnest  on  the  main  business  of  the 
campaign. 

But  it  is  not  our  intention  to  follow  either  of  these  pairs,  or 
now  distinct  parties,  of  adventurous  woodsmen,  in  the  general 
routine  of  their  camp  life,  —  in  their  solitary  and  almost  daily 
marches  among  the  tangled  wilds,  from  their  inner  to  outer 
camps  ;  their  toils  and  fatigues  on  the  way ;  their  pleasant 
meetings  at  the  ends  of  their  ranges  at  night,  to  recount  the 
adventures  of  the  day,  and  lodge  together;  their  heats  and 
their  colds,  their  dark  hours  and  their  bright  ones,  their  curious 
experiences  and  startling  encounters  with  wild  animals ;  and 
finally  their  varying  success  in  realizing  the  objects  of  their 
expedition,  through  the  successive  scenes  of  the  next  nine  or 
ten  weeks,  where 

"  rifle  flashed, 

The  grim  bear  hushed  its  savage  howl, 
In  blood  and  foam  the  panther  gnashed 
Its  fangs  with  dying  howl ; 
The  fleet  deer  ceased  its  flying  bound, 
Its  snarling  wolf-foe  bit  the  ground, 
And,  with  its  moaning  cry, 
The  beaver  sank  beneath  the  wound. 
Its  pond-built  Venice  by." 
18* 


210  GAUT   GURLEY. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  that  they  were  all  blest  with  uninterrupted 
health  and  increasing  vigor,  in  realization  of  the  favorite  theory 
of  Carvil,  in  relation  to  the  invigorating  and  fattening  principle 
of  the  super-abounding  oxygen  of  the  woods.  They  all  highly 
enjoyed  their  wild  life,  and  were,  even  beyond  their  most  san- 
guine expectations,  successful  in  their  aggregate  acquisitions  of 
peltries  and  all  kinds  of  game.  Gaut  Gurley,  whose  unremit- 
ted attention  and  apparent  faithfulness  in  the  duties  of  his  post 
soon  disarmed  the  distrusting,  came  round  punctually,  every 
week,  supplied  them  with  all  they  needed,  and,  while  reporting 
his  own  good  success,  in  his  short  ranges  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
^  head-quarters  encampment,  seemed  greatly  gratified  at  the  con- 
tinued successes  of  all  the  rest,  and  exultingly  bore  off  their 
furs  for  curing  and  safe  storage  with  the  rich  and  rapidly-in- 
creasing collection  at  his  camp  ;  setting  the  mark  of  their  col- 
lected value,  the  last  time  he  came  round,  at  upwards  of  a 
thousand  dollars,  and  encouraging  them  with  the  hope  that, 
probably,  before  any  change  would  occur  in  the  weather 
which  would  compel  them  to  relinquish  the  business  and  return 
to  the  settlement,  a  much  larger  sum  would  be  realized  from 
their  exertions.  And,  in  view  of  this  gratifying  condition  of 
their  affairs,  the  company  at  large  —  as  winter  at  the  farthest 
could  not  be  very  distant — now  began  to  anticipate,  with  much 
satisfaction,  the  time  when  they  should  return  to  their  families, 
to  gladden  them  with  their  welcome  presence,  and,  from  the 
fruits  of  their  enterprise,  make  such  unlooked-for  pecuniary 
additions  to  the  means  of  domestic  comfort  and  happiness. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

"  As  the  night  set  in,  came  hail  and  snow, 
And  the  air  grew  sharp  and  chill, 
And  the  warning  roar  of  a  terrible  blow 
"Was  heard  on  the  distant  hill ; 
And  the  norther,  —  see,  on  the  mountain  peak, 
In  his  breath,  how  the  old  trees  writhe  and  shriek ! 
He  shouts  along  o'erlhe  plain,  ho,  ho  ! 
He  drives  from  his  nostrils  the  blinding  snow. 
And  growls  with  a  sayage  will." 

C.  G.  Eastman. 

We  will  now  take  the  reader  to  the  wild  and  secluded  banks 
of  Dead  river,  the  great  southwesterly  tributary  of  the  lordly 
Kennebec,  the  larger  twin  brother  of  the  Androscoggin,  both 
of  which,  after  being  born  of  the  same  parent  range  of  moun- 
tains, and  wandering  off  widely  apart,  at  length  find,  at  the  end 
of  their  courses,  like  many  a  pair  of  long  estranged  brothers, 
their  final  rest  in  a  common  estuary  at  the  seaboard.  At  a 
point  on  the  banks  of  the  tributary  above  named,  where  its 
long  southward  sweep  brings  it  nearest,  and  within  twenty 
miles  of  the  Oquossak,  and  within  a  quarter  of  that  distance 
from  the  terminating  camps  of  the  outward  ranges  of  the  hun- 
ters, two  men  in  hunting-suits  might  have  been  seen,  in  the 
fore  part  of  one  of  the  last  days  of  November,  in  the  season  of 
the  eventful  expedition  we  have  been  describing,  intently 
engaged  in  inspecting  some  fragments  of  wrought  wood,  which, 
from  the  clue  of  some  protruding  piece,  they  had  kicked  up 
from  the  leaves  and  decayed  brushwood  that  had  nearly  con- 
cealed them  from  view.     One  of  these  men  was  past  the  middle 

(211) 


212  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

age,  of  a  hardy  but  somewliat  worn  appearance.  The  other 
was  in  the  prime  of  young  manhood,  of  a  finely-moulded  form 
and  an  unusually  prepossessing  face  and  countenance.  But  we 
may  as  well  let  the  dialogue  that  ensued  between  them  disclose 
their  identity;  the  matter  that  was  now  engaging  their  attention; 
and  their  reasons  for  thus  appearing  in  this  remote  position. 

"  This  piece,"  said  the  elder,  closely  scanning  the  fragment 
he  held  in  his  hand,  "  is  evidently  oak,  and  looks  mightily  as 
if  it  was  once  the  stave  of  an  oak  keg  or  half-barrel.  Yes,  and 
here  is  another  that  will  settle  the  question,"  he  contmued,  pul- 
ling from  its  concealment  a  larger  and  sounder  fragment. 
"  There !  can't  you  trace  the  chine  across  the  end  of  this  ?  " 

"  Yes,  quite  distinctly,  and  I  should  not  hesitate  to  pronounce 
all  these  fragments  the  remains  of  an  oak  barrel  that  had  once 
been  opened,  or  left  here,  if  I  could  conceive  how  such  a  thing 
could  come  here,  in  the  heart  of  this  extensive  wilderness. 
How  do  you  solve  the  mystery,  Mr.  Phillips  ?  " 

"  Well,  Claud,  I  am  as  much  at  fault  as  you.  Barrels  don't 
float  up  stream ;  and  to  suppose  this  came  down  stream,  and 
still  farther  from  any  inhabitants,  wouldn't  help  on  the  expla- 
nation any  more;  while  to  suppose  it  was  brought  here  by 
hunters  through  the  woods,  where  they  could  have  no  use  for  it 
even  if  they  could  get  it  here,  is  scarcely  more  probable." 

*'  True  ;  but  can't  we  get  a  clue  from  something  else  about 
the  place  ?  This  open  space,  hereabouts,  wears  something  of 
the  aspect  of  a  place  from  which  the  trees  have  been  once  cut 
away,  or  greatly  thinned  out,  for  some  great  encampment,  for 
instance.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  any  expedition  of  men  through 
this  region,  in  such  numbers  as  would  require  the  transporta- 
tion of  large  quantities  of  provisions,  drawn  possibly  by  oxen, 
or  more  probably  by  men  on  light  sledges  ?  " 

"  Well,  now,  come  to  think  of  it,  I  have.  And  I  guess  you 
have  blundered  right  smack  on  the  truth,  at  the  first  go  off; 
which  is  more  than  I  can  claim  for  myself,  I  admit.     Yes, 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  213 

nearly  fifty  years  ago,  at  the  beginning  of  the  old  war,  as  you 
must  have  often  read,  an  army  did  pass  somewhere  through 
the  wilderness  of  Maine  to  Quebec.  It  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  that  fiery  Satan,  Benedict  Arnold,  —  the  only  man  in 
America,  may  be,  who  could  have  pushed  an  army,  at  that  time 
of  the  year,  some  weeks  later  in  the  season  than  it  is  now, 
through  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles'  reach  of  such  woods  as 
these  are,  between  our  last  and  the  first  Canadian  settlement. 
My  father  was  one  of  that  army  of-bold  and  hardy  men.  They 
passed  up  the  Kennebec  some  distance,  and,  then,  according  to 
his  account,  left  it,  and,  with  the  view  of  getting  over  the 
Highlands  on  to  the  Great  Megantic  more  easily,  turned  up  a 
branch,  wliich  must  have  been  this  very  stream.  Yes,  I  see, 
now.  You  are  right  about  the  appearance  of  this  spot.  There 
ivas  once  a  great  encampment  here,  and  doubtless  that  of 
Arnold's  army,  staying  over  night,  and  breaking  open  a  barrel 
of  meat,  conveyed  here  in  some  such  way  as  you  suggested." 

"  It  is  an  interesting  discovery  ;  for  that  was  a  remarkable 
expedition,  and  must  have  been  one  of  great  hardship  and  suf- 
fering." 

"  Hardship  and  suffering !  Wliy,  they  fell  short  of  provisions 
long  before  they  got  out  of  the  wilderness,  and,  besides  the 
hardships  of  cold  and  fatigue,  came  near  starving  to  death !  I 
have  heard  my  father  tell  how  he  was  one  of  a  party  of  thir- 
teen, who,  with  other  like  squads,  were  permitted  to  scatter 
forward  in  search  of  some  inhabitants,  for .  food,  lest  they  all 
perished  together ;  how,  after  going  two  days  without  putting 
a  morsel  into  their  mouths,  except  their  shoe-strings  or  the 
inner  bark  of  trees,  they  at  length  were  gladdened  by  the  sight 
of  an  opening,  with  a  log  house,  and  a  cow  standing  before  the 
door ;  .how,  the  instant  their  eyes  fell  on  the  cow,  they  ran  like 
blood-hounds  for  the  spot,  seized  an  axe,  brought  the  animal  to 
the  ground,  ripped  up  the  hide  on  one  thigh,  cut  off  slices  of 
the  quivering  flesh,  and,  by  the  time  the  aroused  family  had 


214 

got  out  into  the  yard,  were  muncliing  and  gobbling  them  down 
raw,  with  the  desperate  eagerness  of  ravenous  beasts."  * 

"  Horrible !  but  they  paid  the  poor  people  for  their  cow,  I 
trust  ?  " 

"  Yes,  twice  over,  but  that  did  not  reconcile  them  to  the  loss 
of  their  only  cow,  where  it  was  so  difficult  to  get  another.  The 
children  screamed,  and  even  the  man  and  his  wife  wrung  their 
hands  and  cried  as  if  their  hearts  would  break." 

"  That  incident  is  to  me  a  new  feature  among  the  horrors  of 
war,  which  I  probably  should  have  never  heard  of  but  for 
coming  here  and  making  this  curious  discovery  of  one  of  the 
relics  of  that  terrible  and  fruitless  campaign  of  our  Revolution. 
I  am  glad  we  concluded  to  come."  ' 

"  So  am  I ;  for  that,  and  the  other  reason  that  I  wanted  to 
see  the  lay  of  the  country,  round  this  river,  where,  as  it  hap- 
pened, I  had  never  been.  But  my  mind  misgave  me  several 
times,  on  the  way." 

"  Why  so,  pray  ?  " 

"  I  can  hardly  tell,  myself,  but  I  began  to  kinder  feel  as  if 
something  wrong  was  going  on  somewhere,  and  that,  though 
this  place  could  not  be  more  than  five  miles  from  our  upper 
camp,  where  we  stayed  last  night,  we  had  yet  better  be  making 
our  way  directly  back  to  the  lake.  Besides  that,  I  haven't  liked 
the  symptoms  of  the  weather,  to-day." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  have  noticed  any  thing  peculiar  in  the 
weather,  except  a  chilliness  of  the  air  that  I  have  not  felt  be- 
fore this  season." 

"  That's  the  thing,"  rejoined  the  hunter,  glancing  uneasily  up 
through  the  treetops,  to  try  to  get  a  view  of  the  sky.  "  But 
there  are  other  indications  I  don't  fancy.  There  is  a  peculiar 
raw  dampness  in  the  air,  and  a  sort  of  low,  moaning  sound 
heard  once  in  a  while  murmuring  along  through  the  forest, 

*  A  historical  fact,  once  related  to  the  author  by  an  old  soldier  who  was 
one  of  the  party  here  described. 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  215 

such  as  I  have  often  noticed  before  great  storms,  and  sudden 
changes  from  fall  to  winter,  weather,  this  time  of  the  year. 
And  hush !  hark  !  "  he  exclaimed,  suddenly  cutting  short  liis 
-remark,  as  the  well-known,  solemn,  and  quickly-repeated  honk! 
Iconh  !  of  wild  geese,  on  their  passage,  greeted  their  ears. 

They  ran  down  to  the  water's  edge  to  get  a  view  of  the  open 
sky,  when,  looking  up,  they  saw  a  large  flock  of  these  winged, 
semi-annual  voyagers  of  the  air,  coming  in  view  over  the  forest, 
in  their  usual  widespread,  harrow-shaped  battalions,  and  with 
seemingly  hurried  flight,  pitching  down  from  the  British  high- 
lands toward  the  lower  regions  to  the  south.  And  that  flock 
had  scarcely  receded  beyond  hearing,  when  another,  and  yet 
another,  with  the  same  uneasy  cries  and  rapid  flight,  passed,  in 
quick  succession,  over  the  open  reach  of  sky  above  them.. 

"  How  far  do  you  calculate  the  nearest  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence  is  from  here?  "  asked  the  hunter,  musingly. 

"  O,  not  so  very  great  a  distance,  —  three  hundred  miles, 
perhaps,"  replied  Claud,  looking  inquiringly  at  the  other. 

"  Well,"  slowly  responded  the  hunter,  "  those  God-taught 
creatures  know  more  about  the  coming  changes  of  the  weather 
than  all  the  philosophers  in  the  world.  These  are  but  the  ad- 
vanced detachments  of  armies  yet  behind  them,  already,  doubt- 
less, on  their  way  from  Labrador,  and  even  more  northern 
coasts  beyond.  In  the  unusual  mild  November  we  have  had, 
they  never  received  their  warning  till  this  morning.  And  these, 
being  on  the  southern  outposts  of  their  summer  quarters,  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  started  at  daylight,  I  jH-esume,  —  about 
four  hours  ago,  just  about  the  time  I  perceived  a  change  in 
the  atmosphere  myself.  This,  at  the  rapid  headway  you  per- 
ceive they  are  making,  would  give  them  time  to  get  here  by 
this  hour  of  the  day." 

"  Then  you  take  this  as  an  indication  of  the  approach  of  win- 
ter weather  ?  " 

"  I  do.  And  the  evident  hurriedness  of  their  flight,  and  the 
sort  of  quickened,  anxious  tone  of  their  cries,  show  that  theyy 


216  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

at  least,  think  it  is  not  far  behind  them.  But  let  us  put  all  the 
signs  together.  I  must  get  to  some  place  where  I  can  see  more 
of  the  sky.  I  noticed,  as  I  was  coming  in  sight  of  the  river,  a 
short  way  back  in  the  woods,  a  high,  sharp  hill,  with  a  bare, 
open  top,  rising  from  the  river,  about  a  hundred  rods  up  along 
here  to  the  left.  What  suppose  we  pack  up,  and  go  and  ascend 
it  ?  We  can,  there,  besides  getting  the  view  we  want  of  the 
lay  of  the  country,  see,  probably,  the  horizon  nearly  all  round. 
And,  all  this  done,  we  will  then  hold  a  council  of  war,  and  de- 
cide on  our  next  movement." 

This  proposal  meeting  the  ready  approval  of  the  young  man, 
the  two  took  their  rifles,  and  proceeded  to  the  foot  of  the  emi- 
nence in  question,  which  they  found  to  be  a  steep,  conical  hill,  ris- 
ing abruptly  three  or  four  hundred  feet  above  the  general  level 
of  the  surrounding  forest,  with  a  small,  pointed  apex,  from  which 
some  tornado  had  hurled  every  standing  tree  except  a  tall, 
slender  green  pine,  that  shot  up  eighty  or  ninety  feet,  as  straight 
as  a  flagstaff,  from  the  centre.  After  a  severe  scramble  up 
the  steeps,  in  some  places  almost  perpendicular,  they  at  length 
reached  the  summit,  and  commenced  leisurely  walking  round 
the  verge,  looking  down  on  the  variegated  wilderness,  which, 
with  its  thousand  dotted  hills  and  undulating  ridges,  lay  stretched 
in  cold  solitude  around  them.  With  only  a  general  glance, 
however,  over  the  surrounding  forests,  the  gaze  of  the  hunter 
was  anxiously  lifted  upwards,  to  study  the  omens  of  the  heavens. 
The  sun,  by  this  time,  was  scarcely  visible  beneath  the  cold, 
lurid  haze  v/liich  had  for  some  hours  been  gradually  stealing 
over  it ;  while  around  the  horizon  lay  piled  long,  motionless 
banks  of  leaden  clouds,  thick  and  heiivy  enough  evidently  to  be 
dark,  but  yet  of  that  light,  dead,  glazed,  uncertain  hue,  which 
the  close  observer  may  have  often  noted  as  the  precursor  of 
winter-storms.  After  a  long  and  attentive  survej^  of  every 
visible  part  of  the  heavens,  the  hunter,  with  an  ominous  shake 
of  the  head,  dropped  his  eyes  to  the  ground,  and  said: 

"  I  was  right,  but  didn't  want  to  believe  it  when  I  got  up  this 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  217 

morning  ;  and  the  wild  geese  are  right.  "We  are  on  the  eve  of 
winter,  and  our  best  hope  is  that  it  may  come  gently.  But 
even  that  favor,  I  greatly  fear,  we  shall  not  be  permitted  to 
realize." 

"  Well,  sir,  with  that  view  of  the  case,  in  which  I  am  in- 
clined to  concur,  what  do  you  propose  now  ?  "  asked  Claud. 

"  Why,  I  propose,  seeing  we  have  all  the  fur  pelts  we  took 
from  the  traps  yesterday  put  up  in  packs,  and  have  left  nothing 
in  our  upper  camp  of  any  consequence,  —  I  propose,  that,  instead 
of  going  back  to  our  nearest  marked  line,  as  we  talked  of,  we 
strike  directly  across  the  woods,  by  the  nearest  route,  to  our 
lake  camp ;  or,  if  you  are  willing  to  put  up  with  two  or  three 
miles  additional  travel,  we  will  steer  so  as  to  take  the  upper 
camp  of  your  father  and  Carvil  in  our  way.  We  might  find 
them  there,  perhaps." 

"  Then  let  us  steer  for  their  camp  ;  I  can  stand  the  jaunt. 
But  can  you  determine  the  direction  to  be  taken  to  strike  it  ?  " 

"  Nearly,  I  think.  Their  camp,  you  know,  is  on  the  neck  or 
connecting  piece  of  river,  between  two  long  ponds,  lying  about 
southwest  of  us.  I  rather  expected  to  be  able  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  one  of  those  ponds  from  the  hilltop,  but  find  I  can't.  I 
presume  I  could,  however,  from  the  top  of  this  pine  tree." 

"  Yes,  but  to  climb  it  would  be  a  long,  and  perhaps  danger- 
ous task,  would  it  not  ?  " 

"  No,  neither.  We  woodsmen  are  often  compelled  to  resort 
to  such  a  course,  to  take  our  latitude  and  bearings.  And,  on 
the  whole,  I  think  in  this  case  it  might  be  the  cheapest  way. 
So  I  will  up  it,  and  you  may  be  watching  for  wild  geese,  that 
are  still,  I  perceive,  every  few  minutes,  somewhere  in  sight. 
Very  likely  some  flock  may  soon  come  over  us  near  enough  for 
a  shot." 

So  saying,  the  resolute  and  active  hunter,  casting  aside  coat, 

cap,  and  boots,  sprang  up  several  feet  on  to  the  clasped  trunk 

of  the  pine,  over  whose  rough  bark  he  now,  by  means  of  the 

vigorous  clenches  of  his  arms  and  legs,  fast  made  his  way  up- 

19 


218  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

wards.  It  was  a  hard  struggle  for  him,  however,  till  he  reached 
the  lower  limbs,  some  fifty  feet  from  the  ground,  when,  swinging 
himself  up  by  a  grappled  limb,  he  quickly  disappeared  among 
the  thick,  mantling  boughs,  on  his  now  doubly-rapid  ascent ; 
and,  in  a  few  minutes  more,  he  was  heard  by  his  companion 
below,  breaking  off  th^  obstructing  tiptop  branches,  and,  as  he 
gazed  abroad  from  his  dizzy  height,  shouting  out  the  discov- 
eries which  were  the  object  of  his  bold  attempt. 

"  Make  ready  there,  below  ! "  he  startlingly  exclaimed,  all  at 
once,  after  a  long  pause,  in  which  he  seemed  to  be  silently 
noting  the  distant  objects  in  the  forest ;  "  make  ready  there, 
below,  for  a  famous  large  flock  of  wild  geese,  just  heaving  in 
sight  over  the  hills,  and  coming  directly  to  this  spot." 

The  next  moment  the  expected  flock,  spread  out  in  columns 
answering  to  the  two  sides  of  a  triangle,  each  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  extent,  and  the  nearest  nearly  in  a  line  with  the  summit 
where  the  young  huntsman  stood,  with  raised  rifle,  awaiting 
their  approach,  came  in  full  view,  making  the  forest  resound 
with  their  multitudinous  and  mingling  cries,  and  the  loud  beat- 
ing of  their  long  wings  on  the  air,  as  they  swept  onward  in 
their  close  proximity  to  the  earth.  Singling  out  the  nearest 
goose  of  the  nearest  column,  Claud  quickly  caught  his  aim,  and 
fired ;  when  the  struck  bird,  with  a  convulsive  start,  suddenly 
clasped  its  wings,  and,  in  its  onward  impulse,  came  down  like 
lightning  into  the  bushes,  within  five  rods  from  its  exulting 
captor. 

"  Done  like  a  marksman,  —  plumped  through  and  through 
under  the  wing.  You  are  improving,  young  man,"- exclaimed 
the  hunter,  who  now,  rapidly  coming  down,  had  reached  the  foot 
of  the  tree,  as  Claud  came  forward  from  the  bushes,  with  his 
prize.  "  It  is  a  fine  fat  one,  ain't  it  ?  "  he  continued,  glancing 
at  the  heavy  bird,  as  he  was  pulling  on  his  boots.  "  We  will 
take  it  along  with  us  for  our  supper." 

"  Yes,  rather  a  lucky  shot,"  returned  the  other,  self-compla- 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  219 

cently.  "  But  what  discoveries  did  you  make  up  there,  that 
will  aid  us  in  our  course,  Mr.  Phillips  ?  " 

"  O,  that  is  all  settled,"  answered  t]^  latter,  putting  on  his 
pack,  and  buttoning  up,  preparatory  to  an  immediate  start.  "  I 
caught  glimj^ses  of  both  the  ponds,  noted  all  the  hilltops,  ridges, 
and  other  noticeable  landmarks,  in  the  line  between  here  and 
there,  and  can  lead  you  as  straight  as  a  gun  to  the  spot,  for 
which  we  will  now  be  off;  and  the  sooner  the  better,  as  it  is 
fast  growing  colder  and  colder,  and  the  whole  heavens  are 
every  moment  growing  more  dark  and  dubious." 

They  then,  after  making  their  way  down  the  precipitous  side 
of  the  hill  to  its  western  foot,  struck  off,  under  the  lead  of  the 
hunter,  in  a  line  through  the  forest,  preserving  their  points  of 
compass,  when  none  of  their  general  landmarks  were  visible, 
by  noting  the  peculiar  weather-beaten  appearance  of  the  mosses 
on  the  north  sides  of  the  trees,  and  the  usual  inclination  of  the 
tips  of  the  hemlocks  from  west  to  east.  And  for  the  next  hour 
and  a  half,  on,  on  they  tramped,  in  Indian  file,  and  almost  un- 
broken silence,  making  headway  with  their  long,  loping  steps, 
notwithstanding  the  obstructing  fallen  trees,  brushwood,  and 
constantly  occurring  inequalities  of  the  ground,  with  a  speed 
which  none  but  practised  woodsmen  can  attain  in  the  forest, 
and  which  is  scarcely  equalled  by  the  fastest  foot-travellers  on 
the  smooth  and  beaten  highways  of  the  open  country. 

At  length  they  were  gratified  by  an  indistinct  sight  of  some 
body  of  water,  gleaming  dimly  through  the  trees  from  some 
point  in  front ;  and  the  walk  of  a  few  hundred  yards  more 
brought  them  out,  as  it  luckily  happened,  directly  to  the  camp 
of  which  they  were  in  search.  It  was,  however,  tenautless ; 
their  companions  had  already  departed ;  but  the  bed  of  live 
coals  in  the  usual  place,  from  which  the  thin  vapor  was  still 
perceptibly  ascending,  showed  that  they  could  not  have  left 
more  than  an  hour  before.  In  glancing  into  the  deserted 
shanty,  they  descried  a  clean  strip  of  white  birch  bark,  lying 
conspicuously  on  the  ground,  a  few  feet  within  the  entrance. 


220  GAUT  gueley;   oji, 

On  picking  it  up,  they  were  soon  enabled  to  read  the  following 
words,  traced  with  the  charred  end  of  a  twig : 

"  Thinking  something  unusual  to  be  brewing  overhead,  we 
are  off  for  the  lake  about  10  a.  m.  Carvil." 

"  A  very  observing,  considerate  man,  that  Mr.  Carvil,"  said 
the  hunter,  still  musingly  keeping  his  eyes  on  the  unique  dis- 
patch. "  He  is  one  of  the  few  book-learned  men  I  have  ever 
known,  who  could  apply  science  to  the  natural  philosophy  of 
the  woods.  I  can  see  how  justly  he  reasoned  out  this  case : 
knowing  that  we  had  some  thought  of  a  jaunt  to  Dead  river 
this  trip,  he  judged  we  should  notice  the  signs  of  the  weather 
just  as  we  did,  and,  as  it  seems,  he  did ;  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence, when  we  got  there,  we  should  decide  on  the  nearest 
route  back,  which  would  bring  us  so  near  their  camp  that  we 
should  be  tempted  to  come  to  it ;  and  so  he  left  this  notice  for 
us  that  they  thought  it  wisdom  to  depart." 

While  the  hunter  was  thus  delivering  himself,  as  he  stood  by 
the  fire  before  the  entrance,  spreading  out  his  hands  over  the 
coals,  Claud  went  inside,  and,  returning  with  two  fine,  fresh 
trout,  which  the  late  occupants  had,  for  some  cause,  left  behilid 
them,  held  them  up  to  his  musing  companion,  and  exclaimed 

"  Look  here,  Mr.  Phillips,  —  see  what  they  have  left  for  us !  '* 

"  Good ! "  cried  the  hunter,  rousing  himself,  "  for,  whether 
they  left  them  by  design  or  mistake,  they  come  equally  well  in 
play  at  this  time.  You  out  with  your  knife  and  split  them 
through  the  back,  and  I  will  prepare  the  coals.  We  will  roast 
them  for  a  lunch,  which  will  refresh  and  strengthen  us  for  the 
ten  or  twelve  miles  walk  that  is  still  to  be  accomplished,  before 
reaching  the  lake." 

After  dispatching  the  welcome  meal,  which  in  this  primitive 
fashion  they  had  prepared  for  themselves  out  of  the  material 
thus  unexpectedly  come  to  hand,  and  enjoying  the  half-hour's 
rest  consequent  on  the  grateful  occupation,  they  again  swung  on 
then-  packs,  and,  striking  into  one  of  the  marked  lines  of  their 


THE  TRAPPEES   OF  UMBAGOG.  221 

companions,  set  forth  with  fresh  vigor  on  their  journey.  Their 
walk,  however,  was  a  long  and  dreary  one.  Contrary  to  what 
they  had  ever  before  experienced,  in  jaunts  of  this  length 
through  the  woods,  not  a  single  hunting  adventure  occurred,  to 
enhven  the  tedium  of  the  way.  For,  although  the  heavens 
above  were  made  vocal  with  the  screams  of  wild  geese,  still 
pouring  along  in  their  hurried  flight  to  the  south,  to  escape  the 
elemental  foe  behind,  like  the  rapidly  succeeding  detachments 
of  some  retreating  army,  yet  not  a  living  creature,  biped  or 
quadruped,  was  anywhere  to  be  heard  or  seen  in  the  forest  be- 
neath. All  seemed  to  have  instinctively  shrunk  away  and  fled, 
as  from  the  presence  of  some  impending  evil,  to  their  dens  and 
coverts,  there  to  await,  cowering  and  silent,  the  dreaded  out- 
break. Slowly,  but  steadily,  the  lurid  storm-clouds  were  gath- 
ering in  the  heavens,  bringing  shade  after  shade  over  the  dark- 
ening wilderness.  Low,  hollow  murmurs  in  the  troubled  air 
were  now  heard,  ominously  stealing  along  the  wooded  hills ; 
and  now,  in  the  sharp,  momentary  rattling  of  the  seared  beech- 
leaves,  the  whole  forest  seemed  shivering  in  the  dead  chill  that 
was  settling  over  the  earth.  The  cold,  indeed,  was  now  becom- 
ing so  intense  as  to  congeal  and  skim  over  all  the  pools  and 
still  eddies  of  the  river,  and  make  solid  ice  along  the  shores  of 
the  rapid  currents  of  the  stream  ;  while  even  the  ground  was 
fast  becoming  so  frozen  as  to  dumper  and  sound  beneath  the 
hurrying  tread  of  our  anxious  travellers.  By  three  in  the 
afternoon,  it  had  become  so  dark  that  they  could  scarcely  see 
the  white  blazings  on  the  sides  of  the  trees,  by  which  they  were 
guided  in  their  course ;  and  in  less  than  another  hour,  they  were 
stumbling  along  almost  m  utter  darkness,  uncertain  of  their 
way,  and  nearly  despairing  of  reaching  their  destination  that 
night.  But,  while  they  were  on  the  point  of  giving  up  the  at- 
tempt, the  bright  glare  of  an  ascending  blaze,  shooting  fiercely 
through  the  thickets  before  them,  greeted  their  gladdened  eyes, 
and  put  them  on  exertions  that  soon  brought  them  rejoicing 
into  the  comfortable  quarters  of  their  almost  equally  gratified 
19* 


222 

friends  and  comrades ;  where  it  was  at  once  decided  that,  in- 
stead of  proceeding  to  their  own  camp,  to  build  a  fire  and  lodge, 
they  should  turn  in  for  the  night. 

After  some  time  passed  in  the  animated  and  cheery  inter- 
change of  inquiries  and  opinions,  which  usually  succeeds  on  the 
meeting  of  anxiously-sought  or  expected  friends,  Claud  and 
Phillips,  having  by  this  time  warmed  and  measurably  rested 
themselves,  took  hold  with  Carvil  and  Mark  Elwood  in  dress- 
ing and  cooking  for  supper  and  for  breakfast  the  next  morning, 
Claud's  goose,  and  a  pair  of  fine  ducks  fi*om  a  flock  which  the 
two  latter  had  encountered  just  before  reaching  camp  that  after- 
noon ;  and,  after  completing  this  process  with  their  good  supply 
of  game,  and  the  more  agi-eeable  one  of  eating  so  much  of  it  as 
served  for  a  hearty  supper,  they  drew  up  an  extra  quantity  of 
fuel  for  the  large  fire  which  they  felt  it  would  be  necessary  to 
keep  up  through  the  night ;  and  then,  seating  themselves  in 
camp,  went  into  an  earnest  consultation  on  the  measures  and 
movements  next  to  be  taken.  When,  in  view  of  the  lateness  of 
the  season,  coupled  as  it  was  with  the  alarming  portents  of  an 
immediate  storm,  which  they  had  all  noticed,  it  was  unanimously 
determined  that  they  should  embark,  early  next  morning,  for 
head-quarters  on  the  Maguntic,  where  Gaut  Gurley,  instead  of 
preparing  to  come  round  again,  as  was  now  nearly  his  usual 
time  to  do,  would,  under  the  altered  aspect  of  things,  doubt- 
less be  awaiting  them,  and  making  arrangements  for  the  return 
of  all  to  the  settlement.  Then,  building  up  a  fire  of  solid  logs, 
for  long  burning,  the  tired  woodsmen  drew  up  their  bough-pil- 
lows towards  the  entrance  of  the  camp,  so  as  to  bring  their  feet 
near  the  fire,  closely  wrapped  their  thick  blankets  around  them, 
lay  down,  and  were  soon  buried  in  sound  slumber.  And  it  was 
well  for  them  that  they  were  thus  early  taking  their  needed 
rest;  for,  soon  after  midnight,  they  were  awakened  by  the 
lively  undulations  of  the  piercing  cold  air  that  was  driving  and 
whistling  through  the  sides  of  their  camp,  and  by  the  puffs  of 
suffocating  smoke  that  the  eddying  winds  were  ever  and  anon 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  223 

driving  from  their  fire  directly  into  their  faces.  One  after  an- 
other they  rose,  and  ran  out  to  see  what  had  caused  the,  to  them, 
sudden  change  that  had  occurred  in  the  air  since  they  went  to 
sleep.  And  they  were  not  long  in  ascertaining  the  truth.  The 
expected  storm  had  set  in,  with  that  low,  deep  commotion  of 
the  elements,  and  that  slowly  gathering  impetus,  which,  as  may 
often  be  noted  at  the  commencement  of  great  storms,  was  but 
the  too  certain  prelude  of  its  increase  and  duration.  The  fine 
snow  was  sifting  down  apace  to  the  already  whitened  ground, 
and  the  rising  wind,  even  in  their  mountain-hemmed  nook,  was 
whirling  in  fierce  and  fitful  eddies  about  their  camp,  and  shrilly 
piping  among  the  strained  branches  of  the  vexed  forest  around ; 
while  its  loud  and  awful  roar,  as  it  careered  along  the  sides  of 
the  distant  mountains,  told  with  what  strength  and  fury  the 
storm  was  oommencing  over  the  country  at  large.  In  the  situa- 
tion in  which  the  company  now  found  themselves,  neither  sleep, 
comfort,  nor  quiet  were  to  be  expected  for  the  remainder  of 
the  night.  They  therefore  piled  high  the  wood  on  their  fire, 
and  gathered  round  the  hot  blaze,  to  protect  them  from  the  cold, 
that  had  now  not  only  grown  more  intense,  but  become  doubly 
difficult  to  withstand,  from  the  force  with  which  it  was  brought 
by  the  driving  blasts  in  contact  with-  their  shivering  persons. 
And  thus,  —  in  alternately  turning  their  backs  and  fronts  to  the 
fire,  while  standing  in  one  place,  and  often  shifting  places  from 
one  side  of  the  fire  to  the  other ;  in  now  taking  refuge  within 
their  camp  when  the  constantly  veering  gusts  bore  the  smoke 
and  flame  outward,  and  then  fleeing  out  of  it  when  the  stifling 
column  was  driven  inward  ;  but  finding  no  peace  nor  rest  any- 
where, among  those  shifts  and  commotions  of  the  battling  ele- 
ments, —  they  wore  away  the  long  and  comfortless  hours  of  that 
dreary  night,  till  the  return  of  morning  light,  which,  after  many 
a  vain  prayer  for  its  speedier  appearance,  at  length  gradually 
broke  over  the  storm-invested  widerness. 

As  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to  see  objects  abroad,  or  see 
them  as  well  as  they  can  ever  be  discerned  through  the  fast- 


224  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

falling  snow  of  such  a  driving  storm,  Phillips  and  Carvil  sallied 
out  through  the  snow,  already  eight  inches  deep,  and  made  their 
way  down  to  the  nearest  shore  of  the  lake,  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  distant,  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  the  water  before 
embarking  upon  it  in  their  canoes,  as  they  had  designed  to  do 
immediately  after  breakfast.  On  reaching  the  shore,  they 
found  the  narrow  bay,  before  mentioned  as  forming  the  estuary 
of  thetwo  rivers  on  which  they  had  been  located,  comparatively 
calm,  though  filled  with  congealing  snow  and  floating  ice  from 
the  rivers.  But  all  beyond  the  line  of  the  two  points  of  land 
inclosing  the  bay  was  rolling  and  tumbling  in  wild  commotion, 
madly  lashing  the  rocky  headlands  with  the  foaming  waters,  and 
resounding  abroad  over  the  hills  with  the  deep,  hoarse  roar  of 
the  tempest-beaten  breakers  of  the  ocean. 

"  Do  you  see  and  hear  that  ?  "  exclaimed  Phillips-,  pointing  to 
the  lake. 

"  Yes,  yes ;  but  what  was  that  I  just  caught  a  glimpse  of,  out 
there  in  the  offing,  to  the  right  ?  "  hastily  cried  Carvil. 

They  both  peered  forward  intently ;  and  the  next  moment 
they  saw  a  canoe,  containing  a  single  rower,  low  bending  to  his 
oar,  shoot  by  the  northern  headland  with  the  speed  of  an  arrow, 
strike  obliquely  out  of  the  white  line  of  rolling  waves  into  the 
bay,  and  make  towards  the  point  where  they  stood. 

"  Who  can  it  be  ?  "  inquired  Carvil,  after  watching  a  while  in 
silence  the  slow  approach  of  the  obstructed  canoe. 

"  In  a  minute  more  we  shall  see,"  replied  the  hunter,  bend- 
ing forward  to  get  a  view  of  the  man's  face,  which,  being  seen 
the  next  moment,  he  added,  with  a  shout :  "  Hallo,  there.  Cod- 
man,  is  that  you  ?  Why  didn't  you  crow,  to  let  us  know  who 
was  coming  ?  " 

"  Crow  ?  "  exclaimed  the  trapper,  driving  through  the  ice  to 
the  shore  ;  "  did  you  ever  hear  a  rooster  crow  in  a  time  like 
this  ?  There !  I  am  safe,  at  last,"  he  added,  leaping  out  upon 
the  shore,  and  glancing  back  with  a  dubious  shake  of  the  head 
towards  the  scene  from  which  he  had  thus  escaped.    "  Yes,  safe 


THE  TRAPPEES   OP  UMBAGOG.  225 

now,  for  all  my  fright ;  but  I  would  not  be  out  another  hour  on 
that  terrible  lake  for  all  the  beaver  in  the  province  of  Maine ! 
I  started  at  daylight,  got  out  a  mile  or  two,  tolerably,  but  after 
that.  Heaven  only  knows  how  I  rode  on  those  wild  waves  with- 
out swamping !     But  no  matter,  —  I  am  here." 

"  But  where  is  Tomah,  the  Indian  ? "  asked  the  hunter. 

"  Tomah  ! "  said  Codman,  in  surprise.  "  Why,  haven't  you 
seen  him  ?  He  went  off  three  days  ago,  saying  he  must  return 
to  the  settlement,  to  be  training  his  moose  to  the  sledge,  so  as  to 
start  for  Boston  with  him,  the  first  snow.  He  said  he  should 
leave  it  with  Gaut  Gurley  to  see  to  his  share  of  the  furs.  I 
supposed  he  would  call  at  one  of  your  camps.  But  come,  move 
on.  I  suppose  you  have  a  fire  at  camp,  and  something  to  eat ;  I 
am  frozen  to  death,  and  starved  to  death,  besides  being  more 
than  half-dead  from  the  great  scaring  I've  had ;  but  that's  all 
over  now,  and  I'm  keen  for  breakfast.  So  troop  along  back  to 
your  camp,  I  say." 

To  return  to  camp,  take  their  cold  and  comfortless  breakfast, 
and  decide  on  the  now  hard  alternatives  of  remaining  where 
they  were,  to  await  the  event  of  the  storm,  without  pro- 
visions, and  with  their  imperfect  means  of  protection  from  the 
rigor  of  the  elements,  or  of  starting  off  thi'ough  the  cumbering 
snow  beneath  their  feet,  and  the  driving  tempest  above  their 
heads,  with  the  hope  of  reaching  head-quarters  by  land,  before 
another  night  should  overtake  them,  was  but  the  work  of  half 
an  hour.  To  remain,  with  the  foretaste  of  the  past  and  the 
prospects  of  the  future,  was  a  thought  so  forbidding  that  none 
of  them  could  for  a  moment  entertain  it ;  and  to  set  out  to 
travel  by  land,  with  such  prospects,  over  the  mountains,  by 
the  long,  winding  route  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake,  —  which 
was  the  only  one  left  to  them,  and  which  could  not  be  less  than 
fifteen  miles  in  extent,  —  was  a  scarcely  less  forbidding  alter- 
native. But  it  must  be  adopted.  So,  gathering  in  their  steel 
traps  and  iron  utensils,  they  buried  them  all,  except  their  light- 
est hatchet,  under  a  log,  that  they  should  not  be  encumbered 


226  GAUT  gurley;  or, 

with  more  weight  than  was  absolutely  necessary  ;  snugly  pack- 
ing up  the  few  peltries  they  had  taken  since  Gaut  Gurley  had 
been  round,  and  putting  the  scanty  remains  of  their  food  into 
their  pockets,  for  a  lunch  on  the  way,  they  set  forth  on  their 
formidable  undertaking. 

Led  on  and  guided  by  the  calm  and  resolute  hunter,  —  who 
at  different  times  had  been  over  the  whole  way,  and  in  whose 
skill  and  discretion,  as  a  woodsman,  for  conducting  them  by  the 
nearest  and  easiest  route,  they  all  had  undoubting  confidence,  — 
they  vigorously  made  their  way  onwards  through  the  accumu- 
lating snows  and  natural  obstructions  of  the  forest ;  now  thread- 
ing the  thickets  of  the  valleys ;  now  skirting  the  sides  of  the 
hills ;  now  crossing  deep  ravines ;  and  now  climbing  high 
mountains  in  their  toilsome  march.  And,  though  the  storm 
seemed  to  rage  more  and  more  fiercely  with  the  advancing 
hours  of  the  day,  —  whirling  clouds  of  blinding  snow  in  their 
faces,  hurling  the  decayed  limbs  and  trunks  of  the  older  tenants 
of  the  wood  to  the  earth  around  them,  in  the  fury  of  its  blasts, 
and  rattling  and  creaking  through  the  colliding  branches  of  the 
writhing  green  trees,  as  it  swept  over  the  wilderness,  —  yet, 
for  all  these  difficulties  of  the  way  and  commotions  of  the  ele- 
ments, they  faltered  not,  but  continued  to  move  forward  in 
stern  and  moody  silence,  hour  after  hour,  in  the  footsteps  of 
their  indomitable  leader,  until  they  reached  the  extreme  eastern 
point  of  the  lake,  where  their  destination  required  them  to  turn 
round  it,  in  a  sharp  angle  to  the  west.  Here,  at  the  suggestion 
of  theu'  leader,  who  made  the  encouraging  announcement  that 
the  worst  half  of  their  journey  was  accomplished,  they  made  a 
halt,  under  the  lee  of  a  sheltering  mountain,  for  rest  and  re- 
freshment. And,  sitting  down  on  a  fallen  tree,  from  whose 
barkless  trunk  they  brushed  ofi'the  snow,  they  took  out  and  com- 
menced chewing  their  stale  and  frozen  bread,  with  a  few  small 
pieces  of  duck-meat,  remaining  from  their  breakfast,  and  com- 
prising the  last  of  their  provisions.  The  animal  heat,  produced 
by  their  great  and  continued  exertions  in  traveUing,  had  thus 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  227 

far  prevented  them  from  suffering  much  from  the  cold,  or  per- 
ceiving its  actual  intensity.  But  they  had  been  at  rest  scarcely 
long  enough  to  finish  their  meagre  repast,  when  they  were 
driven  from  their  seats  by  the  chill  of  the  invading  element,  and 
were  eagerly  demanding,  as  a  lesser  annoyance,  again  to  be  led 
forward  on  their  journey.  The  snow  by  this  time  had  accumu- 
lated to  the  depth  of  a  foot  and  a  half,  and  still  came  swiftly 
sifting  down  aslant  to  the  earth,  without  the  least  sign  of  abate- 
ment ;  while  the  wind,  which  was  before  a  gale,  had  now  risen 
to  a  hurricane,  causing  the  smitten  earth  to  tremble  and  shake 
under  the  force  of  the  terrible  blasts  that  went  shrieking  and 
howling  through  the  bowed,  bending,  and  twisting  forests, 
where 

"  The  sturdiest  birch  its  strength  was  feeling, 
And  pine  trees  dark  and  tall 
To  and  fro  were  madlj  reeling, 
Or  dashing  headlong  in  their  fall." 

But,  still  undismayed  by  these  manifestations  of  elemental 
power  around  them,  or  the  prospects  before  them,  all  terrific 
and  disheartening  as  they  were,  and  nerved  by  the  conscious- 
ness that  their  only  chance  of  escape  from  a  fearful  death  de- 
pended on  their  exertions,  the  bold  and  hardy  woodsmen  again 
started  out  into  the  trackless  waste,  and  labored  desperately 
onward,  mile  after  mile,  through  the  impeding  snow  ;  sometimes 
taken  to  the  armpits  in  its  gathering  drifts,  and  sometimes 
thrown  at  full  length  beneath  its  submerging  depths  by  step- 
ping into  some  hole  or  chasm  it  had  concealed  from  their  sight. 
And  thus  resolutely  did  they  beat  and  buffet  their  rough  way 
through  the  perplexed  and  roaring  wilderness,  and  thus  stoutly 
did  they  bear  up  against  the  constantly  thickening  dangers  that 
environed  them  during  the  last  pai-t  of  that  dreadful  day.  But, 
as  night  drew  on,  their  strength  and  spu'its  began  to  flag  and 
give  way.  The  cold  was  increasing  in  intensity.  The  tem- 
pest howled  louder  than  ever  over  their  heads,  and  the  snow 
had  become  so  deep  and  drifted  that  furlongs  became  as  miles 


228  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

in  their  progress.  And  yet,  as  they  supposed,  they  were  miles 
from  their  destination.  At  length,  one  after  another,  they  fal- 
tered and  stopped.  The  strong  men  quailed  at  the  fate  which 
seemed  staring  them  in  the  face,  and  they  were  on  the  point 
of  giving  up  in  despair.  But  hark !  that  cheery  shout  which 
rises  above  the  roaring  of  the  wind,  from  their  more  hardy  and 
hopeful  leader,  who,  while  all  others  stopped,  had  pushed  on 
some  thirty  rods  in  advance.     It  comes  again ! 

"  Courage,  men  !  We  have  struck  the  river,  at  whose  mouth 
stands  our  camp,  now  not  half  a  mile  distant." 

Aroused  by  the  glad  tidings,  that  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  through 
their  sinking  hearts,  they  sprang  forward,  with  the  revivified 
energies  which  new  and  suddenly-lighted  hope  will  sometimes 
so  strangely  impart,  and  were  soon  by  the  side  of  the  exulting 
hunter  ;  when  together  they  rushed  and  floundered  along  down 
the  banks  of  the  stream  towards  the  place,  in  joyful  excitement 
at  the  thought  that  their  troubles  were  now  so  nearly  over,  and 
with  visions  of  the  comfortable  quarters,  warm  fires,  and  smok- 
ing suppers,  which  they  confidently  expected  were  awaiting 
them  at  camp,  brightly  dancing  before  them.  Joy  and  hope 
lent  wings  to  their  speed ;  and,  in  a  short  time,  they  could  dis- 
cern the  open  place  and  the  well-remembered  outlines  of  the 
locality  where  the  camp  was  situated.  But  no  bright  light 
greeted  their  expectant  eyes.  They  were  now  at  the  spot,  but, 
to  their  utter  consternation,  no  camp  was  to  be  seen !  Could 
they  be  mistaken  in  the  place  ?  No ;  there  was  the  open  path 
leading  to  the  structure ;  there  rose  the  steep  side  of  the  hill ; 
and  there,  at  the  foot  of  it,  stood  the  perpendicular  rock  against 
which  it  was  erected  !  What  could  it  mean  ?  After  standing 
a  moment  in  mute  amazement,  peering  inquiringly  at  each 
other,  in  the  fading  twilight,  they  started  forward  for  the  rock, 
and,  in  so  doing,  came  upon  the  two  front  posts,  still  standing 
up  some  feet  out  of  the  snow.  They  were  black  and  charred ! 
The  sad  truth  then  flashed  over  their  minds.  Their  camp  had 
been  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  with  it,  also,  probably,  their  rich 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  229 

collection  of  furs,  —  nearly  the  whole  fruit  of  all  the  toils  and 
fatigues  of  their  expedition !  O  death,  death !  what  shall  save 
the  poor  trappers,  now  ? 

"  Great  God !  I  have  had  a  presentiment  of  this,"  exclaimed 
Phillips,  the  first  to  find  utterance,  in  a  voice  trembling  with 
unwonted  emotion. 

"  How  could  it  have  happened  ?  "  and  "  Where  is  Gaut 
Gurley  ?  "  simultaneously  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  others. 

"  Well  may  you  ask  those  questions,  and  well  couple  them 
together,  I  fancy,"  responded  the  hunter,  with  bitter  significance. 
"  But  away  with  all  speculations  about  that,  now.  We  have 
something  that  more  nearly  concerns  us  to  attend  to,  in  this 
strait,  than  forming  conjectures  about  the  loss  of  our  prop- 
erty :  our  lives  are  at  stake  !  If  you  will  mind  me,  however, 
you  may  all  yet  be  saved." 

"  Direct  us,  direct  us,  and  we  will  obey,"  eagerly  responded 
one  and  all. 

"  Two  of  you  follow  me,  then,  for  something  dry,  if  we  can 
find  it,  for  a  fire,  and  the  rest  go  to  kicking  away  and  treading 
down  the  snow  under  the  rock,  with  all  your  might !  "  sharply 
commanded  the  hunter,  dashing  his  way  towards  the  thickets, 
with  hatchet  in  hand. 

With  that  ready  obedience  which  a  superior  in  energy  and 
experience  will  always  command  among  his  fellows,  in  emer- 
gencies like  this,  the  men  went  to  work  in  earnest.  In  a  short 
time  the  snow  was  cleared  away  or  beat  down  compactly  over 
a  space  some  yards  in  extent  along  the  side  of  the  rock,  while 
the  others  soon  returned  with  a  supply  of  the  driest  wood  to  be 
found,  together  with  an  armfull  of  hemlock  boughs,  to  strew 
over  the  beaten  snow.  The  next  thing  requiring  their  atten- 
tion was  the  all-important  object  of  starting  a  fire.  But  in  this 
they  were  doomed  to  sad  disappointment.  Their  punk-wood 
tinder  had  been  so  dampened  by  the  snow  sifting  into  their 
coat-pockets,  where  they  had  deposited  it,  that  it  could  not  be 
made  to  catch  the  sparks  of  the  smitten  steel.    They  then  tried 

20 


230  GAUT  gueley;   ob, 

the  flashing  of  their  guns ;  but  they  had  no  paper,  and  could 
find  no  dry  leaves  or  fleecy  bark  of  the  birch,  and  the  finest 
splinters  or  shavings  they  could  whittle,  in  the  dark,  from  the 
clefts  of  the  imperfectly  dry  pine,  would  not  take  fire  from  the 
light,  evanescent  flash  of  the  powder  in  their  pans.  Again 
and  again  did  they  renew  the  doubtful  experiment ;  but  every 
succeeding  trial,  from  the  dampness  of  their  material  in  the 
driving  snow,  and  from  the  unmanageable  condition  of  their  be- 
numbed fingers  and  shivering  frames,  became  more  and  more 
hopeless,  till  at  length  they  were  compelled  to  relinquish  wholly 
the  fruitless  attempt. 

"  This  is  a  calamity,  indeed ! "  exclaimed  the  hunter.  "  I 
feared  it  might  be  so  from  the  first.  Could  we  have  foreseen 
the  want,  so  as  to  have  been  on  the  lookout  for  material  coming 
along,  or  have  got  here  before  dark,  it  might  have  been  averted. 
But  as  it  is,  there  is  one  resort  left  for  us,  if  we  would  live  in 
this  terrible  wind  and  cold  till  morning;  and  that  is,  to  keep  in 
constant  and  lively  motion.  Whoever  lies  down  to  sleep  is  a 
dead  man ! " 

But  he  found  it  difficult  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  most  of 
them  his  idea  of  the  danger  of  ceasing  motion.  They  began 
to  say  they  felt  more  comfortable  now,  and,  being  very  tired, 
must  lay  down  to  take  a  little  rest.  Sharply  forbidding  the 
indulgence,  the  hunter  sallied  out,  cut  and  trimmed  two  or 
three  green  beech  switches,  and  returned  with  them  to  his 
wondering  companions ;  when,  finding  Mark  Elwood,  in  disre- 
gard of  his  warning,  already  down  and  dozing  on  a  bunch  of 
boughs  under  the  rock,  he  sternly  exclaimed ; 

"  Up,  there,  in  an  instant ! " 

"  0,  let  me  lie,"  begged  the  unconsciously  freezing  man :  "  do 
let  me  lie  a  little  while.  I  am  almost  warm,  now,  but  very, 
very  sleepy,"  he  added,  sinking  away  again  into  a  doze. 

instantly  a  smart  blow  from  the  tough  and  closely-setting 
switch  of  the  hunter  fell  upon  the  outstretched  legs  of  the 
dozer,  who  cringed  and  groaned,  but  did  not  start.     Another 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  231 

and  another,  and  yet  another,  fell  with  the  quickness  and  force 
of  a  pedagogue's  rod  on  the  legs  of  an  offending  urchin,  till  the 
aroused,  maddened  and  enraged  victim  of  the  seeming  cruelty 
leaped  to  his  feet,  and,  with  doubled  fists,  rushed  upon  the  as- 
sailant, who  darted  off  into  the  snow  and  led  his  pursuer  a 
doubling  race  of  several  hundred  yards  before  he  returned  to 
the  spot. 

"  There  are  some  spare  switches,"  resumed  the  active  and 
stout-hearted  hunter,  as  he  came  in  a  little  ahead  of  the  puffing, 
reanimated,  and  now  pacified  Elwood ;  "  take  them  in  hand,  and 
do  the  same  by  me,  if  you  see  me  going  the  same  way ;  it  is 
our  only  salvation  ! " 

But,  notwithstanding  all  this  preaching,  and  the  obvious  ef- 
fects of  this  wholesome  example,  others  of  the  company,  de 
ceived  by  the  insidious  sensation  which  steals  upon  the  unsus- 
pecting victims  of  such  exposures,  as  the  treacherous  herald  of 
their  death,  —  others,  in  turn,  required  and  promptly  received 
the  application  of  the  same  strange  remedy.  But  this  could 
not  always  last.  The  fatigue  of  their  previously  overtasked 
systems  prevented  them  from  keeping  up  their  exertions  many 
hours  more ;  and,  declaring  they  could  bear  up  no  longer,  one 
after  another  sunk  down  under  the  rock;  and  even  their  hith- 
erto indomitable  leader  himself  now  visibly  relaxed,  and  at 
length  threw  himself  down  with  the  rest,  feebly  murmuring  : 

"  I  know  what  this  feeling  means ;  but  it  is  so  sweet !  let  us 
all  die  together ! " 

At  that  instant  'a  shock,  quickly  followed  by  the  loud,  gath- 
ering rumblings  of  an  earthquake,  somewhere  above  them, 
suddenly  aroused  and  brought  every  man  to  his  feet.  And 
the  next  moment  an  avalanche  of  snow,  sweeping  down  the 
steep  side  of  the  rock-faced  declivity  above,  shot  obliquely  over 
their  heads  to  the  level  below,  leaving  them  unharmed,  but 
buried  twenty  feet  beneath  the  outward  surface. 

"  Now,  God  be  praised ! "  cried  the  hunter,  at  once  compre- 
hending what  had  happened,  and  starting  forward  to  feel  out 


232  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

what  space  was  left  them  between  their  shielding  rock  in  the 
rear  and  the  wedged  and  compact  slant  snow-wall  in  front, 
which,  with  the  no  less  deeply  blocked  ends,  formed  the  roof 
and  sides  of  their  new  and  thus  strangely  built  prison-house. 
"  This  is  the  work  of  Providence !  We  are  now,  at  least, 
safe  from  the  cold,  as  you  will  all,  I  think,  soon  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  perceiving." 

"  You  are  right,  Mr.  Phillips,"  responded  Carvil ;  "  and  it  is 
strange  some  of  us  did  not  think  of  building  a  snow-house  at 
the  outset.  Even  the  wild  partridges,  that  in  coldest  weather 
protect  themselves  by  burrowing  in  the  snow,  might  have  taught 
us  the  lesson." 

"  Yes,  but  it  has  been  far  better  done  in  the  way  God  has 
provided  for  us.  And  we  have  only  now  to  get  our  blood  into 
fuU  circulation  to  insure  us  safety  and  rest  through  the  night ; 
and  let  us  do  this  by  shaking  out  our  boughs,  and  treading 
down  the  snow,  as  smooth  as  a  floor,  to  receive  them  for  our 
bedding." 

"  It  may  be  as  you  say  about  its  being  mild  here,  Mr.  Phil- 
lips," doubtingly  observed  Mark  Elwood  ;  "but  it  seems  strange 
philosophy  to  me,  that  being  inclosed  in  snow,  the  coldest 
substance  in  nature,  should  make  us  warmer  than  in  the  open 
air." 

"  And  still  I  suspect  it  is  a  fact,  father,"  said  Claud.  "  The 
Esquimaux,  and  other  nations  of  the  extreme  north,  it  is  known, 
live  in  snow-houses,  without  fire,  the  whole  of  their  long  and 
rigorous  winters." 

"  O,  Phillips  is  right  enough  about  that"  added  Codman,  now 
evidently  fast  regaining  his  usual  buoyancy  of  spirits ;  "  yes, 
right  enough  about  that,  whether  he  was  about  that  plaguey 
switching  he  gave  us,  or  not.  Why,  I  can  feel  a  great  change 
in  the  air  here  already !  warm  enough,  soon  ;  safe,  at  any  rate ; 
so,  hurra  for  life  and  home,  which,  being  once  so  honestly  lost, 
will  now  be  clear  gain.  Hurra  !  whoo-rah !  whoo-rah-ee  ! 
Kuk-kuk-ke-o-ho ! " 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  233 

And  the  hunter  ivas  right,  and  the  trapper  was  right.  Their 
perils  and  physical  sufferings  were  over.  They  were  not  only 
safe,  but  fast  becoming  comfortable.  And,  by  the  time  they 
had  trod  down  the  snow  as  hard  and  smooth  as  had  been  pro- 
posed, and  shaken  out  the  boughs  and  distributed  them  for 
their  respective  beds,  the  air  seemed  as  warm  as  that  of  a  mild 
day  in  October.  Their  clothes  were  smoking  ffhd  becoming 
dry  by  the  evaporation  of  the  dampness  caused  by  the  snow. 
Their  limbs  had  become  pliant,  and  their  whole  systems  restored 
to  their  wonted  warmth  and  circulation.  And,  wrapping  them- 
selves in  their  blankets,  they  laid  down, — as  they  knew  they 
could  now  safely  do,  —  and  were  soon  lost  in  refreshing  slum- 
ber, from  which  they  did  not  awake  till  a  late  hour  the  next 
morning. 

When  they  awoke,  after  their  deep  slumbers,  they  at  once 
concluded,  from  the  altered  and  lighter  hue  of  all  around  them, 
as  well  as  by  their  own  feelings,  that  it  must  be  day  without ; 
and  with  one  accord  commenced,  with  their  hatchets,  cutting 
and  digging  a  hole  through  the  wall  of  their  snowy  prison- 
house,  in  the  place  where  they  judged  it  most  likely  to  be  thin- 
nest. After  working  by  turns  some  thirty  or  forty  mmutes, 
and  cutting  or  beating  out  an  upward  passage  eight  or  ten 
yards  in  extent,  they  suddenly  broke  through  into  the  open  air. 
The  roaring  of  the  storm  no  longer  greeted  their  ears.  The 
terrible  conflict  of  the  elements,  which  yesterday  kept  the 
heavens  and  earth  in  such  hideous  commotion,  was  over  and 
gone.  Though  it  was  as  cold  as  in  the  depths  of  winter,  the 
sky  was  almost  cloudless  ;  and  the  sun,  already  far  on  his 
diurnal  circuit,  was  glimmering  brightly  over  the  dreary  wastes 
of  the  snow-covered  wilderness.  By  common  consent,  they 
then  packed  up,  and  immediately  commenced  beating  their 
slow  and  toilsome  way  towards  the  nearest  habitation,  which 
was  that  of  the  old  chief,  now  only  about  five  miles  distant,  over 
land,  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  below.  With  far  less  fatigue 
and  other  suffering,  save  that  of  hunger,  than  they  had  antici- 
20* 


234  GAUT   GURLEY. 

pated,  they  reached  the  hospitable  cabin  of  Wenongonet  before 
night.  Here  their  wants  were  supplied ;  here  an  earnest  dis- 
cussion —  in  which  they  were  aided  by  the  shrewd  surmises 
of  the  chief —  was  held,  respecting  the  burning  of  their  camp 
and  the  probable  loss  of  their  common  property ;  and,  finally, 
here,  though  the  ^'■Liglit  of  the  Lodge  "  was  absent  at  her  city 
home,  they  were  agreeably  entertained  through  the  night  and 
succeeding  day,  —  when,  the  lakes  having  become  frozen  over 
sufficiently  strong  to  make  travelling  on  the  ice  as  safe  as  it 
was  convenient  and  easy,  they,  on  the  second  morning  after 
their  arrival  at  his  house,  bade  their  entertainer  good-by,  and 
set  out  for  their  homes  in  the  settlement,  which  they  respec- 
tively reached  by  daylight,  to  the  great  relief  of  their  anxious 
and  now  overjoyed  families  and  friends. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

"  There  was  a  laughing  devil  in  his  sneer, 
That  rais'd  emotions  both  of  hate  and  fear." 

In  the  early  part  of  an  appointed  day,  about  a  fortnight 
after  the  return  of  the  imperilled  and  unfortunate  trappers  to 
their  homes,  as  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  an  unusual 
gathering  of  men  was  to  be  seen  within  and  around  a  building 
whose  barn,  open  shed,  watering-trough,  and  sign-post,  showed 
its  aspu-ations  to  be  a  tavern,  occupying  a  central  position 
among  a  small,  scattering  group  of  primitive-looking  houses, 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Androscoggin,  five  miles  below 
that  lake,  and  where  it  might  be  considered  as  fairly  under 
way,  as  an  uninterrupted  river,  in  its  devious  course  to  the 
ocean. 

In  the  yard  and  around  the  door  stood  men,  gathered  in  small 
knots,  engaged  in  low,  earnest  conversation ;  while,  every  few 
minutes,  some  were  seen  issuing  from  the  house  and  hastily  de- 
parting, as  if  dispatched  on  special  messages, — the  company  in 
the  mean  time  being  continually  augmented  by  fresh  arrivals  of 
the  settlers,  who  came  straggling  in  from  both  directions  of  the 
great  road,  which,  leading  from  the  more  thicklj^-settled  parts 
of  Maine  to  the  Connecticut,  here  passed  over  the  Andros- 
coggin. 

Within  the  house,  in  the  largest  room,  and  behind  a  table, 
drawn  up  near  the  wall  at  the  farther  end,  sat  a  magistrate,  in 
all  the  ^rave  dignity  of  a  court,  with  pen  in  hand  and  paper 
before  him,  as  if  in  readiness  to  take  such  testimony  in  the 
case  on  hand  as  should  be  presented  for  his  consideration.  On 
his  right  sat  Mark  Elwood,  Phillips,  and  Codman,  appearing  as 

(235) 


236  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

the  representatives  of  the  injured  trappers  or  hunters,  who 
were  the  prosecutors  in  the  case ;  while  on  his  left  sat  Gaut 
Gurlej,  in  custody  of  the  sheriflf  and  his  assistant,  who  had 
arrested  and  brought  him  there  to  answer  to  the  complaint  of 
the  former.  Gaut  appeared  perfectly  unconcerned,  glancing 
boldly  about  him  with  an  air  of  proud  defiance;  while  his 
former  companions,  the  trappers  just  named,  sat  looking  down 
at  their  feet,  compressing  their  lips  and  knitting  their  brows  in 
moody  and  indignant  silence. 

But,  before  proceeding  with  any  further  description  of  the 
court,  its  parties  or  doings,  let  us  briefly  recur  to  what  had 
happened  in  the  interim  between  the  return  of  the  trappers 
and  their  present  appearance  in  court,  for  redress  for  the  out- 
rages that  they  supposed  had  been  designedly  committed  upon 
them,  or  at  least  for  bringing  to  punishment  the  man  who, 
they  felt  morally  certain,  must  be  the  perpetrator. 

After  the  trappers  had  reached  their  homes,  become  fully 
restored  from  the  chill  and  fatigues  they  had  undergone  during 
the  terrible  storm  with  which  their  expedition  so  disastrously ' 
terminated,  and  attended  to  such  domestic  wants  as  demanded 
their  immediate  care,  they  met  at  the  house  of  Phillips,  in 
accordance  with  an  appointment  they  made  when  they  parted, 
to  report  what  evidence  each  might  be  able  to  collect  relative 
to  the  burning  of  their  camp,  and  the  suspected  previous  ab- 
straction of  their  furs ;  and  thereupon  to  decide  what  measures 
should  be  taken  in  the  premises.  Finding  that  Gaut  Gurley 
had  been  seen  at  home,  or  in  the  vicinity,  some  days  previous  to 
the  storm,  and  that  he  was  not  likely  to  come  to  them,  they  dis- 
patched a  disinterested  person  to  him,  to  notify  him  of  their  arri- 
val, and  the  condition  in  which  they  found  matters  at  the  store- 
camp,  left  in  his  charge,  and  also  of  their  wish  that  he  would 
attend  their  proposed  meeting,  and  account  for  the  catastrophe 
which  had  so  unexpectedly  occurred.  He  pretended  to  know 
nothing  of  the  affair,  and  feigned  great  surprise  at  the  news ; 
said  he  had  left  the  camp  and  its  stores,  all  safe,  two  days 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  237 

before  tlie  storm,  to  come  to  the  settlement  for  more  provisions, 
believing  that  his  companions  would  remain  a  fortnight  longer, 
that,  having  procured  his  supplies,  he  was  intending  to  return 
to  camp  the  day  the  storm  came  on ;  and  finally  that  it  devolved 
on  those  last  at  the  camp,  and  not  on  him,  to  account  for  what 
had  taken  place.  He  therefore  declined  meeting  them  on  the 
business.  As  soon  as  they  ascertained  that  Gaut  had  taken 
this  stand,  which  only  added  to  their  previous  convictions  of 
his  guilt,  the  different  members  of  the  company  made  journeys 
to  the  nearest  villages  or  trading-places  in  Maine  and  New 
Hampshire,  to  see  if  any  furs,  answering  in  description  to  their 
collection,  had  recently  been  sold  in  any  of  those  towns.  And 
at  length  they  found,  in  one  of  the  frontier  villages  in  Maine, 
a  small  collection  of  peltries,  which  they  thought  they  could 
identify,  and  which  the  trader  said  he  had  lately  purchased  of 
an  unknown  travelling  pedlar,  who,  out  of  a  large  lot  of  pel- 
tries, would  sell  only  these  at  prices  that  would  warrant  the 
purchasing.  This  small  lot  of  furs  they  prevailed  on  the  trader 
to  let  them  take  home  with  them,  for  the  puq^ose  of  making 
proof  in  court.  This  was  all  the  direct  evidence  they  could 
find  to  implicate  Gaut ;  but  they  believed  it  would  be  sufficient. 
For,  at  the  meeting  they  then  held,  Mark  Elwood  found  among 
the  furs  a  beaver-skin,  that  he  could  swear  was  of  his  own 
taking,  from  a  careless  slit  he  remembered  to  have  made  in 
the  skinning.  Codman  found  another,  which  he  could  safely 
identify  by  a  mangled  ear  w^hich  was  caught  in  one  end  of  the 
trap,  while  the  tail  was  caught  in  the  other.  And  Phillips 
found  an  otter  skin,  with  a  bullet-hole  on  each  side,  made,  as 
he  well  remembered,  by  shooting  the  animal  through  and 
through  in  the  region  of  the  heart.  On  this  proof  they  unan- 
imously decided  on  a  prosecution ;  and  accordingly  Phillips 
and  Mark  Elwood  set  off  the  next  day  for  Lancaster,  the  shire- 
town  on  the  Connecticut,  for  legal  advice,  warrants,  and  a 
sheriff  to  serve  them.  On  reaching  the  place,  they  were  told 
by  the  attorney  they  consulted  that  they  could  not  make  out 


238  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

larceny  or  theft  against  Gurley  for  taking  the  furs  placed  in 
his  trust,  but  for  their  private  redress  must  resort  to  a  civil 
action  of  trover,  or  unlawful  conversion  of  the  common  property. 
A  criminal  process  for  arson,  or  the  burning  of  the  camp, 
would  probably  be  sustained.  And  the  result  of  the  consulta- 
tion was,  that  a  complaint  and  warrant  for  arson  should  be 
issued,  and  the  arrest  made  by  the  sheriff,  who  should  also  have 
in  his  hands  a  civil  process  returnable  to  the  court  of  Common 
Pleas,  to  serve  on  Gurley  and  his  property,  provided  the  proof 
elicited  at  the  court  of  inquiry  on  the  criminal  charge  should 
be  such  as  to  afford  them  any  prospect  of  a  recovery. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Gaut  Gurley  had  been 
arrested  for  the  burning  of  the  camp,  and  brought  before  the 
magistrate,  who,  with  the  lawyers  employed  on  both  sides,  had 
come  to  this  place,  as  before  described,  for  the  hearing  of  the 
case. 

The  magistrate  now  declared  the  court  open,  and  directed 
the  parties  to  proceed  with  the  case.  The  attorney  for  the 
prosecution  then  rose,  read  the  complaint,  and  briefly  stated 
what  they  expected  to  prove,  to  substantiate  the  allegations  it 
contained.  Mark  Elwood,  Phillips,  Codman,  and  the  trader 
who  had  purchased  the  furs  of  the  pedlar,  and  who  had  been 
summoned  for  the  purpose,  were  then  called  to  the  stand,  and 
sworn,  as  witnesses  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution. 

The  trader,  being  first  called  on,  testified  to  the  identity  of 
the  furs  which  had  been  produced  in  court  with  the  lot  he  had 
bought  of  the  pedlar,  as  before  mentioned ;  and  he  further 
stated  that  the  man  had  a  large  lot,  which  well  answered  the 
general  description  given  by  the  complainants  of  the  lot  they 
had  in  camp ;  but  where  or  how  he  obtained  the  lot,  or  who 
he  was,  or  where  he  went  to  when  he  left  town,  he  did  not 
learn,  and  had  no  means  of  ascertaining.  All  he  could  say,  was, 
that  these  were  the  furs  he  purchased,  and  the  only  ones  of  the 
whole  lot  on  the  prices  of  which  he  and  the  fellow  could  agree,  so 
as  to  effect  a  trade. 


THE    TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  239 

Phillips,  next  callecl,  swore  plumply  that  the  bullet-pierced 
otter-skin  before  him  was  taken  by  his  own  hand  from  the 
animal  he  shot.  He  also  added  that  there  were  several  strings 
of  saple-skins  in  the  lot  before  him,  which  he  felt  confident  he 
had  seen  among  the  furs  of  the  company,  and  he  especially 
pointed  out  one  strung  together  by  a  braid  of  wickape  bark. 
And  in  this  last  statement  he  was  confirmed  by  Codman,  who, 
besides  identifying  one  beaver-skin,  had  the  same  impression 
in  relation  to  the  string  of  sable  ;  but  neither  of  them  would 
swear  positively  in  the  matter  of  the  smaller  furs. 

Mark  Elwood,  the  last  of  the  witnesses  to  be  examined,  then 
took  the  stand ;  and,  contrary  to  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  one  of  his  wavering  disposition,  and  particularly 
from  one  who  had  been  so  strangely  kept  under  the  influence 
and  fear  of  the  man  on  trial,  bore  himself  resolutely  under  the 
menacing  looks  which  the  latter  fixed  upon  him  by  way  of  in- 
timidation. For  some  time  he  had  utterly  refused  to  harbor 
the  idea  of  Gaut's  guilt.  He  believed  the  burning  of  the 
camp  was  accidental ;  that  Gaut,  in  anticipation  of  the  storm, 
had  taken  all  the  furs  home  with  him,  and  would  soon  call  the 
company  together  for  the  distribution.  But  when  he  heard  of 
the  course  Gaut  was  taking,  and  coupled  it  with  the  other  cir- 
cumstances, he  suddenly  changed  his  tone,  fell  into  the  belief 
of  his  companions,  and  more  loudly  and  openly  than  any  of 
them  denounced  the  crime  and  its  author, — seemingly  throwing 
off,  at  once  and  forever,  the  mysterious  spell  which  had  so  long 
bound  him.  Accordingly  he  now  swore  confidently  to  the 
beaver-skin  in  question,  as  one  of  his  own  taking,  and,  facing 
him  boldly,  even  went  so  far  as  to  declare  his  full  belief  in 
Gaut's  guilt,  not  only  in  the  burning  of  the  camp,  but  in  the 
stealing  of  the  furs. 

This  gratuitous  assertion  of  a  mere  matter  of  belief  in  the 
respondent's  guilt,  which  was  no  legal  evidence  in  the  case,  at 
once  aroused,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the  ire  of  Gaut's 


240  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

lawyer,  who,  with  fierce  denunciations  of  the  conduct  of  the 
witness,  subjected  him  to  a  severe  cross-examination. 

"  Wliat  reason,  then,"  asked  the  somewhat  mollified  lawyer, 
now  himself  incautiously  venturing  on  ground  which,  with  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  parties,  he  would  have  seen  might 
injure  his  cause,  and  on  which  his  client  evidently  wished  him 
not  to  push  inquiries.  "  Wliat  reason,  then,  could  you  have 
for  your  extraordinary  conduct  in  trying,  against  all  rule,  to 
lug  in  here  your  mere  ungrounded  conjectures,  to  prejudice  the 
court  and  spectators  against  an  innocent  man  ?  " 

"  Innocent  ?  "  here  broke  in  Phillips,  provoked  by  what,  in 
his  exasperated  state  of  feeling,  he  viewed  as  the  cool  impu- 
dence and  hypocrisy  of  the  lawyer.  "  Innocent,  hey  ?  Well, 
well,  there  are  various  ways  of  lying  in  this  world,  I  see  plainly." 

"  What  do  you  know  about  my  client,  whom  you  are  all  con- 
spiring to  ruin  ?  "  exclaimed  the  excited  lawyer,  turning  fiercely 
on  the  interposing  hunter. 

"  Know  about  him  ?  "  retorted  the  other.  "  I  know  enough, 
besides  this  outrageous  affair ;  I  know  enough  to " 

"  Beware  ! "  suddenly  exclaimed  Gaut  Gurley,  with  a  look 
that  brought  the  speaker  to  a  stand. 

"  I  don't  fear  you,  sir,"  said  the  hunter,  confronting  the  other 
with  an  unflinching  countenance.  "  But  you  may  be  right ;  it 
may  be  /  had  better  forbear ;  it  may  be  your  time  is  not  yet 
come,"  he  added,  in  a  low,  significant  tone. 

"  Now,  I  will  finish  with  you,  sir,"  resumed  Gaut's  lawyer, 
turning  again  sternly  to  Elwood,  from  whom  he  —  like  many 
other  over-acting  attorneys,  who  cannot  see  where  they  should  stop 
in  examinations  of  this  kind  —  seemed  to  think  he  could  draw 
something  more  that  would  make  for  his  client.  "  When  that 
fellow  interrupted  me,  just  now,  I  was  asking  what  reason,  be- 
sides some  grudge  or  malice,  you  had  for  your  unwarrantable 
course  in  pronouncing  the  respondent  guilty,  without  proof;  for, 
allowing  the  furs  you  swear  to  were  once  yours,  you  don't  show, 
by  a  single  particle  of  proof,  that  he  had  any  thing  to  do  with  it 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  241 

more  than  yourselves,  who  were  quite  as  likely  to  have  taken 
them  as  he.  Yes,  what  reasons,  —  facts,  facts,  I  mean  ;  no  more 
guess-work  here ;  so  speak  out,  sir,  like  an  honest  man,  if  you 
can." 

"  I  will,  then,"  promptly  responded  Elwood.  "  You  shall  have 
facts,  to  your  heart's  content ;  I  said  what  I  did  because  I  am 
convinced  he  is  guilty." 

"  Convinced  !  "  sneeringly  interrupted  the  other ;  "  there  it  is 
again  ;  thrusting  in  sheer  conjectures  for  evidence  !  I  must  call 
on  the  court  to  interpose  with  the  stubborn  and  wilful  fellow. 
Didn't  I  tell  you,  sir,  I'd  have  no  more  of  your  guess-work  ? 
Facts,  sir,  facts,  or  nothing." 

"  Well,  you  shall  have  them,  then,"  replied  the  other,  in  a  de- 
termined tone,  "  for  I  know  enough  facts  to  convince  me,  at  least, 
of  his  guilt.  Both  before  and  after  we  started  on  our  expedi- 
tion, he  threw  out  hints  to  me  which  I  did  not  then  quite  un- 
derstand, but  which,  since  this  affair,  I  have  recalled,  and  now 
know  what  they  meant.  He  hinted,  if  I  would  fall  into  his  plan 
and  keep  council,  we  might " 

"  Might  what?"  sharply  demanded  the  excited  and  alarmed 
attorney.  "  Do  you  know  you  are  under  oath,  sir  ?  Might 
what,  I  say  ?  " 

"  Might  get  all  the  furs  into  our  hands,  and " 

"Traitor!  liar!  scoundrel!"  exclaimed  Gaut  Gurley,  in  a 
tone  that  sounded  like  the  hiss  of  a  serpent,  as  he  bent  forward 
and  glared  upon  Elwood,  with  an  expression  so  absolutely 
fiendish  as  to  make  every  one  in  the  room  pause  and  shudder, 
and  as  to  be  remembered  and  recounted,  months  afterwards,  in 
connection  with  events  which  seemed  destined  to  spring  from 
this  worse  than  fruitless  trial. 

"  You  was  going  to  say,"  said  the  attorney  for  the  prosecu- 
tion, here  eagerly  pricking  up  and  turning  to  the  interrupted 
and  now  evidently  discomposed  witness,  —  "  you  was  going  to 
say,  he  proposed  that  he  and  you  should  take  all  the  furs  to 
yourselves,  and  so  rob  the  rest  of  the  company ! " 
21 


242  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

"  I  can't  tell  tlie  words ;  but  I  think  he  meant  that,"  replied 
Elwood,  in  more  subdued  tones. 

"  O  ho,"  exclaimed  Gaut's  lawyer  ;  "  you  nozo  think,  that  is, 
you  guess,  he  meant  something  that  you  didn't  dream  of  his 
meaning  at  the  time  he  uttered  it.  Pretty  evidence  this;  make 
the  most  of  it ! " 

"  We  will,"  said  the  opposite  counsel ;  "  and  I  request  the 
court  to  take  it  all  down,  together  with  the  prisoner's  exclama- 
tioi^s  of  traitor,  etc.,  which  involves,  indirectly,  an  admission  that 
I  shall  remark  on  in  the  argument.  Yes,  let  all  this  be  noted 
carefully.  It  is  important.  It  goes  to  show  the  previous  de- 
sign, which,  coupled  with  the  identified  furs,  is,  I  trust  the  court 
will  see,  sufficient  to  fix  the  crime  on  the  respondent,  beyond 
all  doubt  or  question." 

"  We  will  soon  show  you  how  much  you  will  make  out  of 
your  identified  furs,"  rejouied  the  other  lawyer,  with  a  confident 
and  defiant  air. 

"Have  you  witnesses  to  introduce  on  the  part  of  the  de- 
fence ?  "  asked  the  court. 

"  Yes,  your-honor ;  but  our  most  important  one  has  not  yet 
arrived.     We  are  expecting  him  every  minute." 

At  that  moment,  a  shout  of  surprise  and  laughter,  together 
with  an  unusual  commotion  in  the  yard,  arrested  the  attention 
of  all  in  the  court-room  ;  and  they  mostly  rushed  to  the  door  or 
windows  to  ascertain  the  cause,  when  they  were  amused  to  be- 
hold the  young  Indian,  Tomah,  driving  into  the  yard,  with  his 
moose  harnessed  to  a  pung  or  sledge,  of  his  own  rigging  up,  on 
which  —  with  reins  and  whip  in  hand  —  he  sat  as  jauntily  as  a 
coachman,  and  almost  with  the  same  ease,  apparently,  brought 
his  strange  steed  to  a  stand  before  the  door. 

"Our  witness  has  come!"  exclaimed  Gaut's  lawyer,  exult- 
ingly.  "  Mr.  Sheriff",  send  out  and  bring  him  in.  We  will  now 
dispose  of  this  miserable  prosecution,  in  short  metre." 

In  a  few  minutes  Tomah  entered  the  room,  and,  readily  com- 
prehending, —  from  a  knowledge  of  the  usages  of  courts  he  had 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  243 

obtained  during  his  residence  in  the  villages  of  the  whites, — 
what  was  expected  of  him,  now  demurely  advanced  in  front  of 
the  magistrate,  raised  his  hand,  and  received  the  oath  of  a  wit- 
ness. He  was  then  shown  the  lot  of  furs  that  had  been  identi- 
fied by  the  hunters  present,  his  attention  directed  to  the  peculiar 
marks  by  which  part  of  them  had  been  distinguished,  and  he 
was  asked  if  he  had  ever  seen  these  furs,  and  noticed  the 
marks  on  them,  before. 

"Yes,  think  so,"  replied  Tomah,  quietly,  as  he  rapidly 
handled  every  large  skin,  and  each  parcel  of  the  smaller  oneg, 
keenly  noting  the  palpable  marks  shown  him  on  the  former,  and 
every  tie  confining  together  the  latter.  "  Yes  ;  here  bullet-holes 
on  otter ;  slit  on  this  beaver ;  cropt  ear  on  that ;  httle  fat  back 
of  fore-legs  on  rest  of  beaver ;  wickape  strings  on  that  bunch 
sable ;  elm-bark  tie  on  that ;  and  beech  twigs  on  that.  Yes, 
seen  'em  all." 

"  Where  ?  And  how  do  you  know  the  furs  ?  Tell  the  court 
all  about  it,"  said  Gaut's  lawyer,  as  an  exultant  smile  played 
over  his  sardonic  features. 

"  Well,  now,"  calmly  and  with  his  usual  passionless  cast  of 
countenance  replied  Tomah,  after  a  considerable  pause  ;  "  well, 
this  lot  of  skins  all  taken  from  the  great  lot  taken  by  our  com- 
pany up  round  the  great  lakes,  this  fall.  I  come  back  to  settle- 
ment, three,  four,  five  days,  may  be,  'fore  the  rest ;  to  see  to 
moose,  train  him  for  Boston,  and  make  sled;  wanted  my  part  of 
furs  to  sell  right  off,  to  bear  expenses,  and  get  off  on  journey 
soon.  ]Mr.  Gurley,  then,  after  while,  said. he  venture  to  divide 
off  to  me  greater  part  of  what  I  would  get  for  my  share  of 
skins  then  got  into  the  great  camp.  So  he  do  it ;  and  I  take 
my  part,  just  this  lot  you  show  me  here,  and  steer  off  with  them 
to  Bethel ;  but,  'fore  got  quite  there,  come  cross  pedlar  and 
sold  them  cheap,  for  money,  and  go  right  back  to  Mr.  Gurley's, 
where  moose  was.  Found  Mr.  Gurley  home,  too  ;  said  he  left 
all  furs  safe  in  camp ;  come  for  provisions  to  carry  back,  to 
hunt  one,  two  weeks  longer ;  but  storm  come,  and  he  stayed  to 


244  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

home,  and  soon  heard  all  the  men  got  home,  too  ;  big  storm,  bad ; 
I  no  start  for  Boston  yet,  but  most  ready ;  go  soon,  get  heap 
of  money  for  moose,  certain." 

The  comiselfor  the  prosecution  and  his  clients — on  hearing 
such  a  piece  of  testimony  from  a  witness  whom  they  themselves 
would  have  summoned,  but  for  the  belief  that  he  would  be  so 
much  under  the  influence  and  training  of  Gaut,  that  little  could 
be  drawn  from  him  making  against  the  latter  —  were  taken  so 
completely  by  surprise,  by  the  unexpected  denouement,  that 
they  all  sat  mute  and  dumb-founded  for  some  moments  ;  both 
lawyer  and  clients  being  scarcely  able  to  credit  their  own 
senses,  and  each  hoping  that  the  other  had  discovered  some 
flaw  in  the  testimony,  by  which  it  could  be  picked  to  pieces. 
But  no  such  flaw  or  discrepancy  could  be  discovered  ;  and  the 
testimony,  after  the  severe  and  prolonged  cross-examination  to 
which  it  was  subjected  by  the  rallying  and  desperate  attorney, 
remained  wholly  unshaken,  in  every  material  part,  standing  out, 
in  all  its  decisive  force  and  effect,  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of 
the  respondent.  Every  person  in  the  room,  indeed,  at  length 
became  convinced  that  the  young  Indian  had  told  the  truth, 
and  that  he  could  know  notliing  of  Gaut's  guilt,  though  uncon- 
ciously  made  a  witness  in  his  favor ;  v/ith  the  view,  probably, 
of  meeting  just  such  an  exigency  as  had  occurred  in  the  pres- 
ent prosecution. 

The  attorney  for  the  prosecution,  then,  it  being  agreed  to 
submit  the  case  on  the  testimony  now  in,  made  a  long  and  in- 
genious speech,  abandoning  the  matter  of  the  identified  furs ; 
dwelling  largely  on  Gaut's  dimly-hinted  proposals  to  Elwood  to 
join  in  the  crime ;  and,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  the  only 
person  in  a  situation  to  burn  and  rob  the  camp,  raising  the 
violent  presumption  that  he  must  have  perpetrated  the  double 
crime. 

Gaut's  lawyer  then  rose,  with  a  confident  and  exultant  air, 
and  said  he  might,  with  the  best  reason  in  the  world,  make  a 
plea  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  since  he  had  discovered 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  245 

that  the  camp  which  was  alleged  to  have  been  burnt  was  situ- 
ated some  miles  within  the  boundary  of  Maine ;  that  no  New 
Hampshire  magistrate,  of  course,  could  take  jurisdiction  of  the 
case  ;  and,  that  the  respondent,  on  that  ground  alone,  must  be 
at  once  discharged,  if  he  wished  it.  But  he  did  not  wish  it. 
He  courted  a  trial  and  decision,  on  the  merits  of  the  case; 
which,  after  briefly  urging  the  strong  points  of  the  defence,  he 
submitted  to  the  court. 

Tomah's  testimony  had  settled  the  case  ;  and,  though  nearly 
every  one  in  the  room,  probably,  were  deeply  impressed  with 
suspicions  of  Gaut's  guilt,  yet  all  felt  that  the  evidence  was  not 
sufficient  for  a  legal  conviction.  And  they  were  not  surprised, 
therefore,  when  the  court,  after  briefly  commenting  on  the  tes- 
timony, pronounced  the  full  discharge  of  the  prisoner. 

"  Ha,  ha ! "  exclaimed  Gaut,  with  a  laugh  so  inconceivably 
devilish  that  his  own  lawyer,  even,  recoiled  at  the  sound.  "  Ha, 
ha  ! "  he  repeated,  with  a  smile  on  his  lips,  made  ghastly  by  the 
fires  of  concentrated  malice  that  shot  from  his  eyes.  "  Wouldn't 
my  good  friends,  here,  like  to  try  this  game  again  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  boldly  retorted  the  hunter.     "  Yes,  and  we  shall,  with 
evidence  Heaven  will  direct  us  where  to  find.    Your  time  hasn't 
come.     But  it  will  come !     God  ain't  dead  yet !  '* 
2i# 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

"  Be  still  the  unimaginable  lodge 
For  solitary  thinkings ;  such  as  dodge 
Conception  to  the  very  bourn  of  Heaven, 
Then  leave  the  naked  brain  ;  be  still  the  leaven 
That,  spreading  in  this  dull  and  clodded  earth, 
Gives  it  a  touch  ethereal,  a  new  birth."  Keats. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  lawsuit,  or  prosecution,  in  so 
new  and  remote  a  settlement,  especially  one  that  involved  so 
many  interests,  and  whose  result  must  have  so  many  and  com- 
plicated bearings,  as  the  one  described  in  the  last  chapter,  would 
be  suffered  to  pass  away  like  any  ordinary  occurrence  and  be 
forgotten.  With  the  settlers,  besides  the  novelty  of  having  a 
court  held  among  them,  for  any  cause,  it  was  an  extraordinary 
occurrence  that  there  should  be  any  grounds  for  a  prosecution 
or  lawsuit  of  this  character,  —  extraordinary  that  any  one 
should  be  found  base  enough  to  violate  the  common  faith  and 
honesty  which  the  trappers  and  hunters  had,  up  to  that  time,  so 
implicitly  reposed  in,  and  observed  with  each  other,  —  and 
doubly  extraordinary  that  the  perpetrator  could  not  be  detected 
and  brought  to  punishment.  To  them,  such  a  flagitious  betrayal 
of  trust  was  a  new  and  startling  event.  They  felt  it  deeply 
concerned  them  all ;  and  the  sensation  it  produced  was  accord- 
ingly as  profound  as  it  was  general,  in  all  that  region  of  the 
country. 

But,  if  such  was  the  effect  of  the  unfortunate  occurrence  in 
question,  on  the  community  at  large,  how  much  more  deeply 
would  the  effect  be  naturally  felt  by  the  parties  immediately 
concerned  ?  By  the  loss  of  their  stock  of  furs,  three  families, 
at  least,  were  deprived  of  the  means  on  which  they  had  relied 

(246) 


THE   TEAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  247 

for  supplying  them  with  a  large  part  of  the  necessaries  of  life, 
through  the  ensuing  winter ;  while,  besides  this,  many  a  wife 
and  child  were  doomed  to  sad  disappointment,  in  being  thus 
deprived  of  the  fondly-anticipated  purchases  of  articles  of  dress, 
books,  and  various  other  little  comforts,  which  had  been  prom- 
ised them  on  the  division  and  sale  of  the  peltries.  Nor  were 
these  the  only  interests  and  feelings  affected  by  the  event  and 
its  concomitants.  Friendships  were  broken,  and  even  more 
tender  relations  were  disturbed,  if,  indeed,  their  further  exist- 
ence were  not  to  be  terminated.  By  the  open,  and  as  was 
supposed  irreconcilable,  quarrel  between  Mark  Elwood  and  the 
terribly  vindictive  Gaut  Gurley,  their  children,  Claud  and  Avis, 
who  were  understood  to  be  under  mutual  engagement  of  mar- 
riage, were  placed  in  a  position  at  once  painful  and  embarrass- 
ing in  the  extreme.  And  Claud,  especially,  although  he  had 
carefully  abstained  from  all  accusations  of  Gaut,  had  taken  no 
pai't  in  getting  up  the  prosecution,  and  pui-posely  absented  him- 
self from  the  trial,  yet  felt  very  keenly  the  perplexing  dilem- 
ma into  which  he  would  be  thrown,  by  continuing  the  connect- 
ing link  between  two  such  deadly  foes  as  he  now  found  his 
father,  whom  he  could  not  desert,  and  Gaut  Gurley,  whom 
he  felt  conscious  he  could  not  defend.  And  for  this  reason  he 
had,  from  time  to  time,  deferred  the  visit  to  Avis,  which  he  had 
designed,  and  which  she  would  naturally  expect  on  his  return 
from  the  expedition.  But  still  he  could  not  see  how  a  quarrel 
between  the  fathers  discharged  him  from  his  obligations  to  her; 
and  h.e  grew  more  and  more  doubtful  and  uneasy  in  the  position 
he  found  himself  occupying.  He  was  soon,  however,  to  be  re- 
lieved. One  day,  a  short  time  after  the  trial,  while  he  was 
anxiously  revolving  the  subject  in  mind,  a  boy,  who  had  come 
as  a  special  messenger  from  the  Magalloway  settlement  (for  the 
purpose,  as  it  appeared),  brought  him  the  following  letter  : 

"  Dear  Claud, — You  do  not  know,  you  cannot  know,  what 
the  effort  costs  me  to  write  this.     You  do  not  know,  you  can- 


248 

not  know,  what  I  have  felt,  what  I  have  suffered  since  I  be- 
came fally  apprised  of  the  painful  circumstances  under  which 
your  late  expedition  was  brought  to  a  close ;  and  especially 
since  I  became  apprised  of  the  lamentable  scenes  that  occurred 
in  the  court,  growing  out  of  that  unfortunate  —  O  how  unfortu- 
nate, expedition  !  Before  that  court  was  held,  and  during  the 
doubtful  days  which  intervened  between  it  and  your  escape  from 
the  terrible  perils  that  attended  your  return,  the  hope  that  all 
would,  all  must  turn  out  right,  in  some  measure  relieved  my 
harrowing  fears  and  anxieties ;  though  even  then  the  latter  was 
to  the  former  as  days  of  cloud  to  minutes  of  sunshine.  But, 
when  I  heard  what  occurred  at  the  trial,  —  the  bitter  crimi- 
nation and  recrimination,  the  open  rupture,  the  menaces  ex- 
changed, and  the  angry  parting,  —  and,  more  alarming  than  all, 
when  I  saw  my  father  return  in  that  fearful  mood,  from  which 
he  still  refuses  to  be  diverted,  the  last  gleam  of  hope  faded,  and 
all  became  cloud,  all  gloom,  —  dark,  impenetrable,  and  forbid- 
ding. My  nights,  when  sleep  at  length  comes  to  close  my 
weeping  eyes,  are  passed  in  troubled  dreams  ;  my  days  in  more 
troubled  thoughts,  which  I  would  fain  believe  were  dreams 
also.  O,  why  need  this  be  ?  I  have  done  nothing,  —  you 
have  done  nothing ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  your  faith  and 
honor  for  performing  all  I  shall  ever  require  at  your  hands. 
But,  Claud,  I  love  you,  and  all 

*  Know  love  is  woman's  happiness ;  * 

and  all  know,  likewise,  that  the  ties  of  love  are  but  gossamer 
threads,  which  a  word  may  rupture,  a  breath  shake,  and  even 
the  power  of  unpleasant  associations  destroy.  Still,  is  there 
not  one  hope,  —  the  hope  that  this  thread,  hitherto  so  blissfully 
uniting  our  hearts,  subtle  and  attenuated  as  it  is,  may  yet 
be  preserved  unbroken,  if  we  suffer  no  opinion,  no  word,  no 
syllable  to  escape  our  lips,  respecting  the  unfortunate  affair 
that  is  embroiling  our  parents ;  if  we  wholly  deny  ourselves 
the  pleasure  of  that  social  intercourse  which,  to  wze,  at  least, 


THE   TEAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  249 

has  thus  far  made  this  wilderness  an  Eden  of  dehght  ?  But 
can  it  be  thus  preserved,  if  we  keep  up  that  intercourse,  as  in 
the  sunshine  of  our  love,  —  those  pleasant,  fleeting,  rosy  months, 
when  I  was  so  happy,  O  so  very  happy,  in  the  feelings  of  the 
present  and  the  prospects  of  the  future  ?  No,  no,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible, it  is  not  possible  for  you  to  come  here,  and  encounter  my 
father  in  such  a  mood,  and  then  return  and  receive  the  upbraid- 
ings  of  your  own,  that  you  are  joining  or  upholding  the  house 
of  his  foes.  It  is  not  possible  for  you  to  do  this,  and  your 
heart  receive  no  jar,  and  mine  no  fears  or  suspicions  of  its  con- 
tinued fealty.  I  dare  not  risk  it.  Then  do  not,  dearest  Claud, 
O  do  not  come  here,  at  least  for  the  present.  Perhaps  my 
dark  forebodings,  that  our  connection  is  not  to  be  blessed  for  our 
future  happiness,  may  be  groundless.  Perhaps  the  storm  that 
now  so  darkly  hangs  over  us  may  pass  harmlessly  away. 
Perhaps  this  painful  and  perplexing  misunderstanding  —  as  I 
trust  in  Heaven's  mercy  it  only  is — may  yet  be  placed  in  a  light 
which  will  admit  of  a  full  reconciliation  between  our  respective 
families.  But,  till  then,  let  our  relations  to  each  other  stand,  if 
you  feel  disposed  to  let  them,  precisely  as  we  left  them  at  our 
last  mournfully  happy  parting ;  for,  till  then,  though  it  break 
my  heart,  I  could  never,  never  consent  to  a  renewal  of  our 
intercourse.  Have  I  said  enough,  and  not  too  much  ?  I  could 
not,  under  ,the  almost  insupportable  weight  of  grief,  fear,  and 
anxiety,  that  is  distracting  my  brain,  and  crushing  my  poor 
heart,  —  I  could  not  say  less,  I  dare  not  say  more.  O  Claud, 
Claud,  why  has  this  dreadful  cloud  come  over  us  ?  O,  pray  that 
it  may  be  speedily  removed,  and  once  more  let  in,  on  our  pained 
and  perplexed  hearts,  the  sunshine  of  their  former  happiness. 
Dearest  Claud,  good-by  ;  don't  come,  but  don't  fbrget 

"Avis." 

Claud  felt  greatly  relieved,  in  some  respects,  by  this  unex- 
pected missive ;  in  others,  the  contents  caused  him  uneasiness 
and  self-condemnation.     It  relieved  him  from  the  sense  of  obli- 


250  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

gation  he  had  entertained,  to  make  the  dreaded  visit  to  the 
house  of  Gaut  Gurlej, — who,  with  every  desire  to  arrive  at  a 
different  conclusion,  he  could  no  longer  believe  guiltless  of  the 
basest  of  frauds,  and  the  basest  of  means  to  conceal  it.  It 
relieved  him,  indeed,  on  this  point ;  but,  as  we  have  said,  made 
him  sad  and  thoughtful  on  others.  The  great  grief  and  distress 
under  which  the  fair  writer  was  so  evidently  laboring,  and  the 
deep-rooted  love  for  him  which  was  revealed  in  almost  every 
line,  but  which  her  pride,  in  the  bright  hours  of  their  courtship, 
had  never  permitted  her  to  disclose,  keenly  touched  his  feelings, 
and  rose  in  condemnation  of  the  comparative  indifference, 
which,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  correct  its  waywardness,  he 
felt  conscious  had  been  gradually  stealing  over  his  heart,  since  his 
admiration,  to  say  the  least,  had  been  raised  by  a  rival  vision 
of  loveliness.  In  the  newly-awakened  feeling  of  the  moment, 
however,  he  bitterly  upbraided  himself  for  his  tergiversations  in 
suffering  his  thoughts  to  vacillate  between  the  Star  of  the 
Magalloway,  who  had  his  plighted  faith,  and  Flower  of  the 
Lakes,  who  had  no  claims  to  his  special  consideration.  But 
still,  when  his  thoughts  wandered  over  the  scenes  of  the  past 
summer,  which  now,  since  trial  and  hardship  had  brought  his 
mind  back  within  the  dominion  of  reason  and  judgment,  seemed 
much  more  like  dreams  than  realities,  —  when  he  thought  of 
the  manner  in  which  he  became  acquainted  with  Avis  Gurley  ; 
how  he  persisted  in  gaining  her  affections,  and  kindling  into  an 
over-mastering  flame  his  own  fancy-lit  love  ;  and  finally,  how, 
against  the  known  wishes  of  his  family,  and  the  dictates  of  his 
own  sober  judgment,  he  had  urged  her  into  an  engagement  of 
marriage,  which  he  could  now  see  had,  as  his  mother  predicted, 
in  all  probability  led  to  a  renewal  of  the  intimacy  between  his 
father  and  Gaut  Gurley,  and  that  last  intimacy  to  the  present 
disaster,  and  a  new  quarrel,  whose  consequences  might  yet  well 
be  looked  for  with  uneasiness  and  apprehension,  —  when  he 
thought  of  all  this,  he  deeply  condemned  his  own  indiscretion, 
and  could  not  help  wishmg  himself  clear  from  an  engagement, 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  251 

which,  like  every  thing  connected  with  the  schemes  of  that  dark 
and  di'eaded  man,  who  was  now  an  object  of  suspicion  through 
the  whole  settlement,  seemed  destined  to  lead  only  to  trouble 
and  disaster.  Such  was  the  maze  of  perplexity  by  which  the 
young  man,  now  too  late  for  an  honorable  retreat,  found  him- 
self on  every  side  thickly  environed.  Yet,  for  all  this,  and  in 
despite  of  all  these  perplexities  and  misgivings,  he  resolved  he 
would  not  cease  to  play  the  man,  but  honorably  fulfil  all  his 
obligations  in  such  manner  as  should  be  required  of  him. 

So  much  for  the  love  and  its  hapless  entanglements,  which 
had  been  so  deeply  but  so  unsatisfactorily  occupying,  for  the 
last  few  weeks,  the  thoughts  of  Claud  Elwood ,  who  then  little 
suspected  that  there  was  another  heart,  besides  that  of  the  pure, 
proud,  and  impassioned  Avis  Gurley,  whose  every  pulse,  in  the 
great  unseen  system  of  intermingling  sympathies,  beat  in  trem- 
bhng  vibration  to  his  own,  —  a  heart  that  had  been  won  un- 
courted  and  unknown,  —  a  heart  that  had  secretly  nursed,  in 
the  favoring  solitudes  of  these  wild  lakes,  and  brooded  over,  a 
passion  more  deep  and  intense  than  words  could  well  be  found 
to  describe.  There  was  such  a  heart ;  and  that  heart  was  now 
wildly  beating,  in  the  agonizing  uncertainties  of  a  hoped  recip- 
rocation, in  the  bosom  of  that  peerless  child  of  the  forest,  the 
beautiful  Fluella  ;  and  all  the  more  intense  were  its  workings, 
because  confined  to  its  own  deep  recesses,  where  the  hidden 
flame  was  laboring  constantly  for  an  outlet  to  its  pride-walled 
prison,  but  as  constantly  shrinking  in  terror  from  the  disclos- 
ure. She  had  once,  however,  through  the  violence  of  emotions 
which  she  could  not  control,  accidentally  betrayed  the  state  of 
her  feehngs ;  but  it  was  to  one  in  whose  discretion  and  friend- 
ship she  was  soon  made  to  repose  undoubting  confidence,  and 
with  whom,  therefore,  she  at  length  became  reconciled  to  let 
her  secret  remain.  The  person  who  had  thus  become  the 
depositary  of  that  secret  was,  as  the  reader  may  remember, 
Mrs.  Elwood.  The  consciousness  that  this  lady  knew  all, 
coupled  as  it  was  with  the  thought  of  the  relation  in  which  the 


252 

latter  stood  to  the  object  of  her  secret  idolatry,  had  irresistibly 
drawn  to  her  the  yearning  heart  of  the  guileless  maiden.  She 
had  longed  for  another  interview,  but  dare  not  seek  it ;  longed 
for  some  excuse  for  opening  a  communication  with  her,  but 
could  not  find  one.  At  length,  however,  fortune  opened  the  de- 
sired avenue ;  and,  after  much  hesitation  and  trembling,  she 
summoned  up  the  courage  to  avail  herself  of  the  offered  oppor- 
tunity. Phillips,  in  his  determination  to  ferret  out  the  outrage 
which  had  been  committed  on  him  and  his  companions,  and  of 
the  author  of  which  he  still  entertained  no  doubt,  had,  immedi- 
ately after  the  trial,  commenced  a  series  of  rapid  journeys  to  all 
the  nearest  villages  or.  trading  towns  in  Maine  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  ascertain  if  any  lot  of  furs,  answering  to  those  caught 
by  his  company,  had  been  sold  in  those  places.  And  one  of 
these  journeys,  for  that  and  other  purposes,  he  had  extended 
to  the  seaboard.  On  his  return  home,  he  immediately  repaired 
to  his  neighbor  Elwood's,  and,  unperceived,  slipped  into  the 
hands  of  Mrs.  Elwood  a  letter,  which  the  wondering  matron 
soon  took  to  a  private  room,  curiously  opened,  and,  with  a  deep, 
undefined  interest  and  varying  emotions,  commenced  reading. 
It  ran  thus : 

"  Mrs.  Elwood,  my  Friend,  —  Our  Mr.  Phillips  has  been 
hsre,  and  told  us  all  that  has  happened  in  your  settlement. 
Mrs.  Elwood,  I  am  greatly  troubled  at  the  loss  your  family 
suffer,  with  the  rest  of  the  hunters,  but  still  more  troubled  and 
fearful  for  your  husband  and  your  noble  son,  about  what  may 
grow  out  of  the  quarrel  with  that  dark  man.  My  father  knew 
him,  time  long  past,  and  said  there  would  be  mischief  done  the 
company,  when  we  heard  he  was  going  with  them.  I  hope  Mr. 
Elwood  will  keep  out  of  his  way  ;  and  I  hope,  Claud,  —  O,  I 
cannot  wi'ite  the  thought.  Mrs.  Elwood,  I  am  very  unhappy. 
I  sometimes  wish  your  brave  and  noble  son  had  suffered  me  to 
go  down  and  be  lost  in  the  dark,  wild  waters  of  those  fearful 
rapids.     By  the  goodness  of  my  white  father,  whom  I  am  proud 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP  UMBAGOG.  253 

to  hope  you  may  some  time  see  with  me  in  your  settlement,  I 
have  all  the  comforts  and  indulgences  that  a  heart  at  ease  could 
desire  ;  warm,  carpeted  rooms,  dress,  books,  company,  smooth 
flatterers,  who  mean  little,  it  may  be,  together  with  real  friends, 
who  mean  much,  and  prove  it  by  actions,  which  do  not,  like 
words,  ever  deceive.  And  yet,  Mrs.  Elwood,  they  are  all 
now  without  any  charms  for  me.  My  heart  is  in  your  settle- 
ment. The  grand  old  forest,  and  the  bright  lake,  were  always 
things  of  beauty  for  me,  before  I  saw  him  ;  but  now,  when  asso- 
ciated luith  him,  —  O,  Mrs.  Elwood,  if  I  did  not  know  you 
had  something  of  what  I  meant  should  forever  be  kept  secret 
from  all  but  the  Great  Eye,  in  your  keeping,  and  if  you  had 
not  made  me  feel  you  would  be  my  discreet  friend,  and  keep  it 
as  safe  from  all  as  an  unspoken  thought,  I  would  not  for  worlds 
write  what  I  have,  and  what  I  every  moment  find  my  pen  on 
the  point  of  writing  more  fully.  O,  how  I  wish  I  could  make 
you  understand,  without  words,  what  I  feel,  —  how  I  grieve 
over  what  I  almost  know  must  be  vain  hopes,  and  vainer  vis- 
ions of  happiness !  You  have  sometimes  had,  it  may  be,  very 
bright,  delightful  dreams,  which  seemed  to  bring  you  all  your 
heart  desired ;  and  then  you  suddenly  awoke,  and  found  all  had 
vanished,  leaving  you  dark  and  sad  with  disappointment  and 
regret.  If  you  have,  you  may  fancy  what  my  thoughts  are 
undergoing  every  hour  of  the  day.  O,  how  my  heart  is  drawn 
away  towards  you !  I  often  feel  that  I  must  fly  up,  like  a  bird, 
to  be  there.  I  should  come  now,  but  for  what  might  be  thought. 
I  shall  certainly  be  there  in  early  spring.  I  can't  stay  away, 
though  I  may  come  only  to  see  what  I  could  bear  less  easy 
than  these  haunting,  troubled  fancies.  Mrs.  Elwood,  adieu. 
You  won't  show  this,  or  breathe  a  word  about  it,  —  I  know  you 
won't ;  you  could  not  be  so  cruel  as  that.  Mrs.  Elwood,  may 
I  not  sign  myself  your  friend  ?  Fluella." 

On  perusing  this  unexpected  communication,  Mrs.  Elwood  felt 
— she  scarcely  knew  herself  what  she  felt,  except  a  keenly  appre- 

22 


254 

elating  sense  of  the  writer's  embarrassed  feelings,  and  except, 
also,  the  pleasurable  emotions  which  this  timid  and  tender  out- 
pouring of  an  unsophisticated  heart  somehow  afforded  her. 
Ever  since  her  singular  interview  with  this  remarkable  girl,  as 
described  in  a  former  chapter,  Mrs.  Elwood  had  not  ceased  to 
think  of  her  as  of  some  good  angel,  sent  by  an  interposing 
Providence,  m  answer  to  the  agonizing  supplications  which  im- 
mediately preceded  her  unexpected  appearance  at  the  time,  — 
sent  to  be  the  means,  in  some  unforeseen  way,  of  extricating 
her  family  from  the  fatal  influences,  as  she  viewed  them,  under 
which  they  had  insidiously  been  brought  by  their  different  con- 
nections with  the  Gurleys.  Especially  had  she  been  impressed 
that  this  would  prove  the  case,  in  all  that  related  to  her  idolized 
son,  Claud ;  whom,  in  her  disregard  to  all  considerations  of  lin- 
eage, when  relieved  by  such  excellence  of  beauty  and  charac- 
ter, she  would  a  thousand  times  rather  have  seen  united  to  the 
Indian  girl  than  to  the  one  he  appeared  to  have  chosen.  She 
was,  therefore,  besides  being  touched  by  the  broken  pathos  of 
the  letter,  gratified  by  its  reception  ;  for  it  seemed  to  come  as  a 
sort  of  confirmation  of  her  grateful  presentiment,  that  her  son, 
at  least,  was  to  be  happily  disenthralled.  Nor  was  she,  at  tliis 
time,  without  the  evidence  which  led  her  to  hope  that  her  hus- 
band, also,  had  now  finally  escaped  from  the  toils  that  had,  once 
and  again,  caused  him  such  calamity  and  suffering.  The  sud- 
den and  terrible  outbreak  of  indignation,  which,  with  equal  sur- 
prise and  gratification,  she  had  seen  him  exhibit  against  Gaut, 
and  the  quarrel  in  court,  which  followed  in  consequence,  must, 
she  thought,  now  forever  keep  them  separate.  If  so,  poorly 
as  her  family  could  afford  to  suffer  their  part  of  the  loss  of  the 
avails  of  the  fall's  work,  she  would  cheerfully  bear  it,  and  even 
look  upon  the  event  in  the  light  of  a  Heaven-sent  mercy.  But 
even  of  this  poor  comfort  she  was  destined  soon  to  be  de- 
prived. After  the  trial,  Mark  Ehvood — who,  however  bravely 
he  bore  himself  at  first,  on  that  occasion,  was  finally  seen  to 
quail  under  the  terrible  glances  of  Gaut — soon  became  strangely 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  255 

silent  respecting  the  prosecution  and  supposed  perpetration  of 
the  offence  about  which  he  had  before  manifested  so  much  zeal 
and  indignation.  And,  in  the  active  exertions  which  PliilHps 
and  Codman,  in  the  vain  search  for  evidence  or  some  chie  to  the 
robbery  of  the  furs,  perseveringly  kept  up  during  the  whole  of 
the  long  and  dreary  winter  that  followed,  he  could  not  be  induced 
to  take  any  decided  part.  Nor  would  he,  when  they  met  him 
at  his  own  house,  or  that  of  Phillips,  as  they  several  times  did, 
that  winter,  to  compare  the  discoveries  and  observations  they 
had  made,  and  discuss  the  subject,  any  longer  maintain  the  po- 
sition he  at  first  so  boldly  took,  respecting  Gaut's  guilt,  or  say 
any  thing  in  aid  of  their  deliberations.  He,  indeed,  as  they 
grew  more  decided  and  convinced,  seemed  to  grow  more  waver- 
ing and  doubtful.  Such  was  Hs  demeanor  and  conduct  in 
company  of  his  late  companions  ;  while,  with  his  own  family,  he 
appeared  moody,  irresolute,  and  restless,  and  even,  at  length,  he 
began  to  throw  out  occasional  hints  tending  to  defend  or  exten- 
uate the  conduct  of  the  very  man  whom,  a  few  weeks  before, 
he  had  so  confidently  denounced  as  a  thief  and  a  robber. 
Alarmed  at  these  indications  of  returning  weakness  and  fatuity 
in  her  husband,  Mrs.  Elwood  soon  put  herself  on  inquiry,  to 
ascertain  the  cause ;  and  she  was  not  long  in  making  discov- 
eries that  more  than  justified  her  worst  fears  and  suspicions. 

It  appeared  that  Gaut  Gurley,  after  his  arrest,  and  after  his 
escape  from  the  punishment  of  the  law,  through  the  means,  as 
was  now  generally  believed,  which  he  had  cunningly  provided 
before  he  entered  on  the  commission  of  the  ofi"ence  charged, 
remained  almost  constantly  at  home,  during  nearly  the  whole 
winter,  brooding,  in  savage  mood,  over  his  own  dark  thoughts 
and  varying  schemes  for  advantage  and  revenge,  keeping  his 
family  in  continual  awe  of  him,  and  causing  all  who  ap- 
proached him  to  recoil,  shuddering,  from  his  presence,  and  mark 
him  as  a  dangerous  man  in  the  community.  Towards  spring, 
however,  he  appeared  suddenly  to  change  his  tactics,  or,  at 
least,  to  undergo  a  great  change  in  his  deportment  and  conduct* 


256  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

All  at  once,  he  came  round  in  his  usual  manner.  The  dark 
cloud  had  been  banished  from  his  brow.  He  civilly  accosted 
every  acquaintance  he  met,  appeared  cheerful  and  good- 
humored,  and  desirous  of  prolonging  the  conversation  with  all 
with  whom  he  Came  in  contact,  without  seeming  to  notice,  in 
the  least,  the  evident  inclination  of  most  of  the  settlers  to  avoid 
his  company.  He  came  down,  every  few  days,  to  the  little 
village  before  named  as  the  place  where  the  court  was  held, 
and  lounged  for  hours  about  the  tavern ;  which,  during  the 
winter  season,  was  the  common  resort  of  the  settlers.  Here 
he  soon  encountered  his  old  companions,  Philhps,  Codman,  and 
the  Elwoods,  all  of  whom,  notwithstanding  the  cold  and  demure 
manner  with  which  the  two  former,  at  least,  turned  away  from 
him,  he  saluted  with  careless  ease,  and  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened to  disturb  their  former  social  relations.  And,  having  thus 
surmounted  the  somewhat  difficult  task  of  breaking  the  ice  with 
them,  without  receiving  the  open  and  absolute  repulse  which, 
however  disposed,  they  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  give  him,  he,  at 
the  next  meeting,  ventured  to  broach  the  subject  of  their  late 
quarrel,  affecting  to  laugh  at  their  mutual  exhibitions  of  folly  in 
getting  so  angry  with  each  other  in  court,  under  the  belief,  on 
his  part,  that  they  had  got  the  furs,  and,  on  their  part,  that  he 
had  made  way  with  them ;  when  neither  of  them  were  guilty, 
and  ought  not  to  be  charged  with  the  offence.  For  himself,  he 
said,  he  was  now  satisfied,  on  thinking  the  matter  over,  who 
were  the  real  culprits.  They  were  a  couple  of  "  cussed  runa- 
gate Indians,"  that  had  strolled  over  from  Canada,  and,  having 
discovered  his  camp,  had  laid  in  wait  for  his  absence.  He  had 
seen  the  tracks  of  two  different-sized  moccasins  in  the  sand  on 
the  lake-shore,  but  two  days  before  he  left ;  but  the  circum- 
stance was  forgotten,  or  he  should  not  have  left  the  camp  un- 
guarded. It  was  a  great  loss  for  them  all ;  but  it  would  not 
help  the  matter  to  mourn  now.  It  must  be  borne ;  and  he 
knew  of  no  way  to  make  it  up  but  to  try  their  luck  in  another 


THE  TRAPPERS   OP  UMBAGOG.  257 

expedition.  He  should,  for  his  part ;  for  he  had  no  notion  of 
giving  up  so. 

Such  was  the  drift  of  his  conversation  at  this  interview ; 
and,  seeming  to  think  he  had  ventured  far  enough  for  one  ex- 
periment on  their  creduhty,  he  dropped  that  subject  and  struck 
off  on  to  others.  But  the  next  time  he  met  them  he  contrived 
to  turn  the  conversation  upon  the  same  theme  ;  when,  teUing 
them  with  a  confidential  air  that,  a  few  days  before  he  left 
camp,  he  discovered,  on  a  stream  coming  in  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  Megantic,  a  succession  of  freshly-constructed  beaver 
dams,  which,  from  the  number  of  houses  and  other  indications 
around  each,  he  thought  must  be  occupied  by  one  of  the  largest 
colonies  of  beavers  ever  collected  on  one  stream  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  he  directly  proposed  to  them  to  join  him,  when  the 
spring  opened,  in  an  expedition  to  secui'e  this  extraordinary 
collection  of  the  valuable  animals  that  were,  unquestionably, 
still  all  there,  and  as  unquestionably  might  be  captured. 

This  story,  with  the  accompanying  proposal,  presented,  as 
Gaut  well  knew,  the  most  tempting  inducement  that  could  be 
offered,  to  trappers.  But  it  made  no,  impression  on  Phillips 
and  Codman.  They  deeply  distrusted  the  man,  his  whole  story, 
and  the  motives  which  they  believed  moved  him  to  concoct  it. 
Spurning  m  their  hearts,  therefore,  the  bait  that  had  been  so 
artfully  laid  for  them,  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him 
or  his  proposal.  And,  both  then  and  thereafter,  they  remained 
unmoved,  and  stood  proof  against  all  the  arguments  his  taxed 
ingenuity  and  devilish  cunning  could  invent  and  bring  to  bear 
upon  them. 

With  the  infatuated  Mark  Elwood,  however,  the  case 
seemed  to  be  almost  wholly  reversed.  He  again  listened,  — 
was  again  lost.  He,  restless,  uneasy,  and  evidently  apprehen- 
sive of  something  he  did  not  disclose,  from  continuing  under 
the  terrible  displeasure  which  Gaut  had  so  significantly  mani- 
fested towards  hira,^ — he  had  appeared,  from  the  first,  to  hail 
with  pleasure  the  indications  of  the  relenting  mood  of  the  other, 

22^ 


258  GAUT  gueley;   or, 

and  seemed  but  too  glad  to  be  again  noticed  with  favor.  He 
could  see  no  reason  to  distrust  the  man's  sincerity,  he  said, 
when  others  raised  the  question  ;  and  he  was  much  inclined  to 
adopt  his  version  of  the  robbery  and  burning  of  their  camp. 
When,  therefore,  the  proposal  of  a  new  expedition  was  made, 
under  the  circumstances  we  have  named,  the  blinded  El  wood 
seemed  fully  prepared  to  accept  it ;  and  he  would  have  openly 
and  without  reserve  done  so,  but  for  the  restraining  presence 
of  his  companions,  who,  he  felt  conscious,  would  disapprove  and 
deprecate  his  conduct.  Gaut  had  noticed  all  this,  and  was  not 
long  in  bringing  about  a  private  interview  with  his  dupe  and 
victim,  which  resulted,  as  might  be  supposed,  in  settling  the 
matter  in  just  the  way  he  intended. 

From  that  time,  the  conduct  of  Mark  Elwood  became  wholly 
inexplicable  to  all  his  friends  and  acquaintances  in  the  settle- 
ment. He  commenced  with  defending  Gaut  Gurley,  thus 
giving  the  lie  to  all  he  had  said,  and  ended  with  declaring  an 
intention  of  accompanying  him  in  another  trapping  expedition 
to  the  upper  lakes,  to  be  entered  upon  on  a  given  day  in 
April,  then  near  at  hand.  And,  in  spite  of  all  the  advice  and 
warnings  of  his  late  associates  in  the  former  disastrous  cam- 
paign ;  the  remonstrances  of  his  son,  who  shared  in  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  others ;  and  the  agonizing  tears  and  entreaties 
of  his  wife,  he  strangely  persisted  in  his  purpose,  and,  like  the 
fated  one  of  the  Scriptures,  steadily  "  set  his  face  "  towards 
his  contemplated  destination. 

"The  man  is  hurried !^^  said  Phillips  to  Codman,  as  they 
left  Elwood's  on  a  second  and  last  visit,  made  with  the  sole 
object  of  dissuading  him  from  a  step  which  they  shrank  from 
themselves,  —  that  of  going  into  the  distant  forest  with  such  a 
desperate  fellow  as  they  now  deeply  suspected  Gaut  Gurley  to 
be,  — ""  the  man  is  evidently  hurried.  When  I  saw  that  look 
Gaut  gave  Elwood  in  court,  I  knew  he  was  marked  for  destruc- 
tion, more  especially  than  the  rest  of  us,  who  are  doubtless 
both  placed  on  the  same  list.     And  Elwood  would  see  it  him- 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  259 

self,  if  he  was  right-minded.  Yes,  he  is  hurried,  and  can't  help 
it.  He  will  go,  and  God  grant  my  fears  may  not  be  realized." 
And  he  did  go,  but  not  alone.  As  soon  as  Claud  became 
fully  satisfied  that  his  father's  purpose  was  not  to  be  shaken, 
he  began  earnestly  to  debate  in  mind  the  question  whether  he 
himself  should  not,  as  a  fihal  duty,  become  a  participant  in  the 
expedition,  with  the  view  of  making  his  presence  instrumental 
in  averting  the  apprehended  danger.  And,  although  he  per- 
ceived that  his  mother's  distress,  all  troubled  and  doubtful  as 
she  was  in  deciding  between  her  conflicting  duties  of  affection, 
would  be  enhanced  by  the  step ;  and,  although  his  mind  had 
been  still  more  staggered  by  a  brief  confidential  note  from 
Avis  Gurley,  advising  him,  if  not  too  late,  to  find  means  to 
break  up  the  project  of  the  expedition  entirely,  yet  he  finally 
made  up  his  mind  in  the  affirmative.  And,  accordingly,  on  the 
morning  of  the  appointed  day,  both  father  and  son,  after  a 
leave-taking  with  the  despondent  wife  and  mother,  more  omin- 
ously sad  and  mournful  than  had  ever  before  marked  their 
family  trials,  set  forth  again  for  the  wild  wastes  of  the  lakes, 
with  their  now  doubly  questionable  companion. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

"But  there  was  weeping  far  away; 
And  gentle  eyes,  for  him, 
"With  watching  many  an  anxious  day, 
Were  sorrowful  and  dim." 

Bryant's  Murdered  Traveller. 

It  was  the  second  week  in  May ;  and  spring,  delightful 
spring,  sweet  herald  of  happiness  to  all  the  living  creatures 
that  have  undergone  the  almost  literal  imprisonment  of  one 
of  the  long  and  dreary  winters  of  our  hyperborean  clime,  was 
beginning  to  sprinkle  the  green  glories  of  approaching  summer 
over  the  reanimated  wilderness.  In  the  physical  world,  all 
seemed  light  and  laughing  around : 

"  the  green  soil  with  joyous  living  things 

Swarm'd,  the  "wide  air  was  full  of  joyous  wings." 

The  sun,  no  longer  feebly  struggHng  through  the  dark,  ob- 
structed medium  of  a  northern  winter's  atmosphere,  was  throw- 
ing abroad  his  clear,  unstinted  floods  of  living  light,  bathing 
with  soft  radiance  the  diversified  face  of  the  basking  forest, 
and  gleaming  far  and  brightly  over  the  soothed  waters  of  the 
sleeping  lake.  The  mild  and  genial  zephyrs  were  discoursing 
the  low,  sweet,  melancholy  music  of  their  seohan  harps,  among 
the  gently-wavering  tops  of  the  whispering  pines.  The  choral 
throng  of  feathered  songsters  were .  filling  every  grove,  glade, 
or  glen,  of  field  and  forest,  with  the  glad  strains  of  their  merry 
melodies.  And  all  nature  seemed  crying  aloud,  in  the  fulness 
of  her  happiness, 

"  The  summer  is  coming ;  rejoice  ye,  rejoice ! " 

(260) 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  261 

So  smiled  every  thing,  animate  and  inanimate,  in  the  visible 
physical  world,  as  circumscribed  to  this  secluded  settlement,  on 
the  morning  when  opened  the  first  scene  in  the  closing  act  of 
our  story's  changeful  drama.  But  in  the  moral  world,  so  far 
as  the  interests  and  feelings  of  most  of  our  leading  personages 
were  involved,  the  skies  were  overcast  with  contrasted  clouds 
of  doubt  and  darkness. 

On  that  morning,  at  the  Elwood  Landing,  on  the  western 
shore  of  Umbagog,  stood  a  collected  group  of  excited  people, 
of  different  ages  and  sexes,  gazing  anxiously  across  the  lake 
in  the  direction  of  the  great  inlet,  as  if  expecting  the  appear- 
ance of  some  object  or  person  from  that  quarter.  But,  before 
naming  the  cause  of  their  assembling  and  the  objects  of  their 
present  solicitude,  we  will  leave  them  a  moment  for  a  brief — 
but,  for  the  understanding  of  the  reader,  necessary — recurrence 
to  what  had  transpired,  in  the  interim  between  the  departure 
of  the  two  Elwoods  and  Gaut  Gurley,  and  the  present  occasion. 

For  nearly  a  month  after  her  husband  and  son  left  home, 
Mrs.  Elwood  had  been  wholly  unable  to  obtain  any  tidings  of 
them,  or  any  information  even  of  their  locality  on  the  upper 
lakes.  And  gloomily,  0  how  gloomily,  with  her,  passed  the 
long  and  dreary  days  and  sleepless  nights  of  that  dismal  period ! 
Little  had  occurred  to  vary  the  monotony  of  her  harrowing 
anxieties ;  and  that  little  tended  rather  to  increase  than  relieve 
them.  For,  even  from  the  limited  intercourse  she  had  with 
families  of  the  settlers, — although  their  conversation,  out  of 
regard  to  her  feelings,  was  restrained  and  guarded,  when  the 
subject  nearest  her  heart  was  introduced,  —  she  gathered  the 
fact  that  she  was  not  alone  in  her  fears  and  anxieties,  but  that 
they  were  shared,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  by  the  people  of 
the  whole  se^lement;  among  whom  the  subject  was  being  daily 
discussed,  at  every  fireside,  with  avowed  apprehensions  that 
some  fearful  fate  w^as  awaiting  one  or  both  of  the  Elwoods,  in 
their  sojourn  in  the  forest,  in  whose  dark  recesses  there  would 
be  no  witnesses  to  restrain  the  evil-doer  from  the  purposes  of 


262 

robbery  and  revenge  which  they  generally  believed  he  secreiiy 
entertained.  But,  among  all  the  settlers,  no  one  had  exhibited 
so  much  anxiety  and  restlessness  as  the  hunter,  Phillips.  He 
had  been  almost  continually  absent  from  home,  evidently  to 
distant  places,  but  where  and  with  what  objects  he  declined  to 
make  known.  The  direction  and  object  of  one  of  these  secret 
journeys,  however,  was  inferred  from  the  unexpectedly  early 
return  of  Fluella,  the  lovely  maid  of  the  forest,  who  had  no 
sooner  reached  her  old  home  than  she  flew  to  the  Elwood  cot- 
tage, to  mingle  her  tears  and  sympathies  with  those  of  the 
anxious  and  troubled  matron ;  who,  in  the  circumstances,  could 
have  received  no  more  acceptable  visit.  With  the  opening 
of  the  season,  also,  other  absentees  had  returned  to  the  settle- 
ment. Carvil  had  come  back,  to  ascertain  what  had  been 
effected  in  relation  to  the  supposed  robbery  of  the  furs,  the  fall 
before,  having  intrusted  his  interests  to  the  care  of  PhiUips ; 
and  now  feeling,  with  the  others,  apprehensive  for  the  result  of 
the  new  expedition,  he  was  anxiously  awaiting  the  return  of 
the  absent  trappers.  Tomah,  the  eccentric  young  Indian,  like- 
wise had  surprised  the  settlers  by  his  sudden  reappearance 
among  them,  in  a  suit  of  superfine  broadcloth,  hat  and  boots 
to  match,  gold  watch,  showy  seals,  and  all  the  gewgaw  etceteras 
that  go  to  make  up  the  animal  they  call  a  city  dandy.  He  had 
sold  his  moose,  it  appeared,  for  four  hundred  dollars,  and 
brought  nearly  the  whole  of  it  home  on  his  bedizened  person, — 
with  the  object,  as  he  soon  admitted,  of  dazzling  the  hitherto 
obdurate  Fluella. 

"  Yes,  —  catch  her  sartain,  now,"  he  said,  with  a  complaisant 
glance  over  his  dashing  rig,  on  departing  for  the  chief's,  as 
soon  as  he  ascertained  the  fair  object  of  his  pursuit  had  returned 
to  her  father's.  But  he  soon  came  back,  in  a  great  miff,  and 
offered  to  sell  the  whole  of  his  fine  new  outfit  for  just  one  half 
what  it  cost  him.  Contrary  to  expectation,  he  declared  he 
would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  Gaut  Gurley ;  concerning 
whom  he  had  seen  something,  about  the  time  of  the  trial,  to 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  263 

awaken  his  suspicions,  and  against  whom  he  now  evidently 
stood  ready  to  array  himself,  with  the  rest,  on  the  next  occasion. 

"With  these  few  incidents,  April  passed  away,  and  the  first 
day  of  May,  the  usual  limit  of  the  fur  season,  had  arrived ; 
but  with  it  the  absent  trappers  had  failed  to  make  their  appear- 
ance. Another  week  passed,  and  still  they  came  not.  "  What 
could  it  mean  ?  "  was  on  every  tongue.  Men  ominously  shook 
their  heads,  and  women  and  children  began,  in  the  connection, 
to  talk  in  suppressed  voices  of  the  dark  character  of  Gaut 
Gurley. 

At  this  juncture,  word  came  that  Gaut  had  returned,  and 
had  several  times  been  seen  about  his  home.  A  man  was  im- 
mediately dispatched  to  Gaut's  residence,  for  inquiries  about  the 
Elwoods  ;  but  the  messenger  returned  and  reported  that  Gaut 
said  he  parted  with  them  on  the  Maguntic, — he  to  go  over  the 
mountains  to  his  home,  on  the  Magalloway,  and  they,  in  their 
canoe,  that  had  been  frozen  up  in  Oquossak,  the  fall  before,  to 
goto  Bethel  to  sell  their  furs.  Further  than  this,  he  knew 
nothing  about  them. 

"  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it !  "  exclaimed  the  hunter,  who 
with  many  others  had  anxiously  awaited,  at  the  tavern,  the 
messenger's  return ;  "  not  one  w^ord  of  it !  They  would  not 
have  gone  off  to  Bethel  after  such  an  absence,  before  returning 
home ;  or,  if  they  had,  they  would  have  been  here  before  this 
time.  But  the  story  shall  be  investigated  without  twelve  hours 
delay.  It  is  time  we  were  moving  in  the  business.  Who  will 
furnish  me  with  a  good  saddle-horse  ?  " 

The  horse  was  furnished ;  and  within  half  an  hoar  the  ex- 
cited hunter  was  speeding  his  way  to  Bethel. 

He  returned  early  the  next  morning,  in  a  state  of  still  greater 
excitement  and  concern  than  before;  having  ridden  all  night,  in 
his  anxiety  to  reach  the  settlement  by  the  time  people  were 
up,  so  that  immediate  measures  might  be  put  afoot  to  scour  the 
country  in  search  of  the  missing  Elwoods,  whose  continued  ab- 
sence had  now  become  doubly  mysterious  and  alarming,  by  the 


264 

discovery  he  had  made,  as  he  feared  he  should,  that  they  had 
not  gone  to  Bethel  at  all,  nor  been  seen  or  heard  of  anywhere 
in  that  direction. 

The  news  of  Gaut's  return  alone,  his  improbable  story,  and 
the  discovery  of  its  almost  certain  falsity,  spread  like  wild-fire 
over  the  settlement ;  and  the  people,  already  prepared  to  believe 
the  worst  by  their  previous  suspicions  of  Gaut's  evil  designs, 
rose  up  as  one  man,  instinctively  shuddering  at  the  thought  of 
the  apprehended  crime,  and  feeling  irresistibly  impelled  to  at- 
tempt something  to  bring  about  that  fearful  atonement  Avhich 
Heaven  demands  of  every  man  who  wilfully  sheds  the  blood 
of  his  fellow-man.  So  deep  and  absorbing  was  this  feeling, 
indeed,  in  the  present  instance,  that  men  dropped  their  hoes  in 
the  field,  left  their  axes  sticking  in  the  trees,  and  threw  aside 
all  other  kinds  of  business,  and,  with  excited  and  troubled  looks, 
hurried  off  to  the  scene  of  action,  to  see,  hear,  and  join  in  what- 
ever movement  the  exigencies  of  the  case  might  require  to  be 
made.  And  before  night  nearly  the  whole  of  the  settlers,  re- 
siding within  a  circuit  of  a  dozen  miles  of  the  surrounding 
country,  had  assembled  at  the  tavern  in  the  rustic  hamlet, 
which,  as  before  mentioned,  they  made,  on  all  extraordinary 
occasions,  the  place  of  their  common  rendezvous.  Here,  after 
conversing  a  while  in  scattered  groups,  exchanging  in  low,  hur- 
ried tones,  and  with  many  an  apprehensive  glance  around  them, 
their  various  opinions  and  conjectures,  they  gradually  gathered 
in  one  room  in  the  tavern,  formed^themselves  into  something 
hke  an  organized  meeting,  and  began  their  deliberations.  But, 
before  they  had  settled  on  any  definite  course  of  action,  their 
attention  was  suddenly  turned  from  the  channel  their  minds 
were  all  evidently  taking,  by  a  new  and  unexpected  occur- 
rence. 

Two  young  men,  who  had  that  day  been  across  the  lake  to 
the  Great  Rapids,  for  the  purpose  of  fishing,  returned  to  the 
village  about  sunset,  with  the  news  that  they  had  discovered,  at 
the  foot  of  the  most  dangerous  pass  0/  the  rapids,  wedged  in 


THE  TRAPPEES   OF  UMBAGOG.  265 

among  the  projecting  flood- wood  of  tlie  place,  a  partially- 
wrecked  and  stove  canoe,  which  they  both  recognized  as  the 
one  kept  by  the  Elwoods  at  their  landing  last  summer,  and,  of 
course,  the  one  they  took  away  with  them  in  their  succeeding 
fall  expedition.  This  fact,  all  at  once  readily  jDerceived,  might 
throw  an  entirely  new  aspect  over  the  whole  of  the  mysterious 
affair;  and  they  soon  decided  on  dispatching  the  same  young 
men,  at  daybreak  the  next  morning,  across  the  lake,  to  examine 
carefully  both  shores  of  the  inlet  up  to,  and  some  distance  be- 
yond, the  place  where  they  found  the  canoe,  to  see  if  they  could 
find  any  thing  else,  or  discover  any  indications  gomg  to  show 
that  anybody  had  been  wrecked  and  drowned  there ;  then  to 
return,  as  quickly  as  possible,  with  the  wrecked  canoe  in  tow, 
and  whatever  else  they  might  find,  to  the  Elwood  landing ; 
where  the  company  would  assemble,  by  the  middle  of  the  fore- 
noon, to  receive  them,  hear  their  report,  examine  the  canoe, 
and  take  action  according  to  the  circumstances. 

It  was  done ;  and  this  was  the  occasion  of  the  assembling  at 
the  landing  of  the  mingled  and  anxious  group  which  we  began 
to  describe  near  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  and  to 
which  we  will  now  return. 

Foremost  in  the  mingled  group  of  people  which  we  have 
thus  brought  to  view,  was  the  agonized  wife  and  mother  of  the 
missing  or  lost  men ;  whose  doubtful  fate  was  also  engrossing, 
though  less  intensely,  every  thought  and  feeling  of  the  sympa- 
thizing company  around  her.  She  had  gradually  worked  her- 
self down  to  the  extremest  verge  of  the  low  shore,  and  had 
unconsciously  placed  one  foot  in  the  edge  of  the  water,  as  if 
irresistibly  drawn  to  the  farthest  possible  limit  in  the  supposed 
direction  of  those  two  objects  of  her  affection,  who,  alive  or 
dead,  were  still  her  all-in-all  of  this  world ;  and  there  she  stood, 
slightly  inclined  forward,  but  motionless,  mute,  and  pale  as  a 
marble  statue,  with  lips  painfully  compressed,  and  eyes,  glazed 
and  watery,  intently  fixed  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake 
to  which  she  was  looking  for  relief,  at  least  from  the  terrible 

23 


266  GAUT  gurlet;    or, 

suspense  under  which  she  was  suffering.  By  her  side,  a  little 
back,  stood  the  wife  of  the  hunter,  and  two  or  three  other 
women  of  the  vicinity,  who  had  more  particularly  interested 
themselves  in  her  troubles,  —  some  shedding' sympathetic  tears, 
and  some  offering  an  occasional  word,  which  they  hoped  might 
in  a  slight  degree  divert  her  sorrows  or  console  her  in  her  an- 
guish. But,  ahke  regardless  of  their  falling  tears  and  soothing 
remarks,  she  gazed  on,  in  unbroken  silence,  hour  after  hour, 
taking  no  note  of  time,  or  any  object  around  her,  in  the  all-ab- 
sorbing intensity  of  her  feelings.  Little,  indeed,  was  said  by 
wiy  of  the  company.  The  younger  portion  stood  in  hushed 
awe  at  the  sight  of  grief  in  the  older,  and  at  the  thought  of 
what  might  the  next  hour  befall.  And  the  men,  though  visibly 
exercised  by  strong  emotions,  and  occasionally  revealing  a 
trembling  lip  or  starting  tear,  as  they  glanced  at  the  face  of 
the  chief  sufferer,  yet  offered  scarce  a  remark  to  relieve  the 
pervading  gloom  of  the  sad  and  anxious  hour.  The  whole 
group,  indeed,  might  have  been  taken  for  a  funeral  cortege, 
awaiting  on  the  shore  the  expected  remains  of  some  deceased 
friend. 

After  standing  in  this  manner  till  nearly  noon,  the  com- 
pany caught  sight  of  a  scarcely-perceptible  object  on  the  water, 
in  the  direction  of  the  great  inlet.  And,  although  for  some 
time  it  appeared  like  a  speck,  as  seen  against  the  low,  green 
fringe  of  the  opposite  and  far-distant  shore,  yet  it  at  length  so 
enlarged  on  the  vision  that  the  form  of  a  canoe  and  the  gleam 
of  flashing  oars  became  distinctly  discernible.  Soon  a  little 
variation  in  the  line  of  approach  brought  not  only  the  canoe 
and  the  rowers,  but  another  canoe  in  tow,  plainly  in  view ;  and 
then  all  knew  that  their  painful  suspense  was  about  to  be  ended. 
Another  half-hour  had  to  be  passed  by  the  company,  who  still 
stood  there  in  trembling  expectation,  awaiting  the  approach  of 
the  canoes ;  when,  as  the  latter  now  came  within  hailing  dis- 
tance, the  impatient  hunter  stepped  down  to  the  water's  edge, 
and  called  out : 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  267 

"  "What  news  do  you  bring  ?  " 

"  None  !  but  we  have  brought  the  canoe." 

"  I  see ;  but  have  you  made  no  discoveries  ?  " 

"  None  whatever." 

"  No  caps,  packs,  or  bunches  of  furs  washed  up  anywhere  ?  " 

"  No,  nothing.  We  examined  thoroughly  both  shores  of  the 
rapids,  and  found  nothing,  and  no  mark  or  sign  of  any  thing 
about  which  any  conclusion  could  be  formed  respecting  the 
manner  the  canoe  got  thei*e." 

"But  the  oars?" 

"  We  found  them  in  the  same  flood- wood  with  the  boat,  and 
they  appeared  as  if  they  were  thrown  out  of  the  canoe  when  it 
struck." 

The  canoe,  which  was  the  object  of  scrutiny,  and  which  had 
been  injured  much  less  than  had  been  supposed,  a  break  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  bow  being  the  only  ruptured  part,  was 
now  drawn  up  on  the  shore ;  when  Phillips,  Codman,  and 
Tomah  took  upon  themselves  to  go  into  a  minute  and  careful 
inspection  of  every  part  of  its  outer  and  inner  surface,  together 
with  every  appearance  from  which  any  inference  haying  the 
least  bearing  on  the  question  at  issue  could  be  drawn  by  these 
experienced  and  observing  canoe-men. 

"  Men  no  leave  oars  in  canoe,  when  go  over  falls,"  at  length 
observed  the  Indian,  standing  back  with  the  air  of  one  who  has 
satisfied  himself  with  an  examination,  — "  no  leave  oars  that 
way ;  have  them  out  to  use ;  and  then,  when  upset,  drop  'em  in 
the  river ;  where  get  scattered,  go  down,  wash  up  different 
places,  mile  apart,  may  be,  —  not  together,  right  close  side  of 
canoe,  likely.     Don't  believe  so  much  story,  like  that  come  to." 

"  Spoke  like  a  man  who  knows  something,"  said  the  trapper, 
the  next  to  offer  comments.  "  And  here  is  a  loosened  slip-knot 
in  the  end  of  this  bark  boat-rope,  which  I  have  been  looking 
at.  See  !  it  has  been  drawn  into  a  fixed  knot,  that  hasn't  been 
altered  since  it  has  had  considerable  use  and  steady  pulling 
through  it,  as  I  see  by  the  chafed  bark  inside  the  small  hole 


268 

within  the  knot.  The  hole  is  too  small  to  have  been  brought 
into  this  shape  by  hitching  it  to  a  stake  or  projecting  limb  of  a 
tree  on  shore.  It  looks  exactly  as  if  a  tie  attached  to  some 
other  canoe  had  been  passed  through  it,  to  draw  this  canoe 
along  by ;  and  here  is  a  slight  mark  of  a  knife,  where  that 
tie  has  been  cut  out,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  untying.  This 
canoe  must  have  been  hitched  behind  some  other  canoe,  and 
towed  down  to  the  head  of  the  rapids,  and  there  sent  adrift." 

"  Yes,"  responded  the  hunter,  who  had  been  particularly  con- 
fining his  attention  to  the  outer  and  top  edges  along  the  sides 
of  the  boat ;  "  yes ;  and  here  is  the  moss  or  scurf  that  had  gath- 
ered on  these  upper  edges,  on  both  sides,  during  the  snows  and 
thaws  of  winter,  still  remaining  entii'e  and  unbroken,  in  every 
part  of  this  delicate  weather  coating,  which  even  a  thumbnail, 
as  you  see,  can't  pass  over  without  marring  it  or  leaving  a 
mark.  No  man  could  have  rowed  this  canoe  twenty  rods  with- 
out grazing  these  edges  and  leaving  marks  on  them.  Yes, 
you  are  both  right.  This  canoe,  which  I  suppose  you  all  agree 
was  Mr.  Elwood's,  has  not  been  rowed  since  he  left  it  hauled 
up  on  the  shore  of  the  Oquassah  last  fall,  to  be  buried  by  the 
great  snow-storm ;  and  the  Elwoods  are  both  safe,  for  all  being 
wrecked  and  drowned  from  that  boat,  or  any  other,  I  pre- 
sume." 

The  countenance  of  Mrs.  Elwood,  who  stood  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  spot  where  the  examination  of  the  canoe  had 
been  going  on,  but  near  enough  to  hear  most  of  what  was  said, 
visibly  brightened  at  this  announcement.  The  hunter  saw  the 
expression,  and  a  shade  of  anguish  passed  over  his  face,  as, 
turnmg  to  those  immediately  around  him,  and  speaking  in  a  low, 
subdued,  and  commiserating  tone,  he  resumed : 

"  I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart  to  dampen  the  new-lighted 
hope  which  this  turn  of  the  affiiir  seems  to  give  that  poor, 
wretched  wife  and  mother.  But,  to  my  mind,  all  this  makes  it 
doubly  certain  that  the  Elwoods  have  met  with  foul  play.  It 
looks  exactly  like  one  of  Gaut's  devilish  schemes  of  finesse,  to 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF   UMBAGOG.  269 

cause  this  canoe  to  be  sent  down  the  rapids,  and  be  so  found 
as  to  lead  folks  to  suppose  the  owners  were  drowned,  and  to 
put  the  public  on  a  false  scent.  Yes,  friends,  you  may  depend 
there  has  been  foul  play,  —  I  dare  not  guess  how  foul.  I  have 
felt  it  the  last  fortnight,  as  if  some  unseen  hand  was  writing 
the  dreadful  secret  on  my  heart.  I  feel  it  still,  now  stronger 
than  ever.  And  I  call  God  to  witness  my  resolution,  that  I 
will  know  no  rest  or  relaxing  till  I  see  the  dark  deed  laid  open 
to  day,  and  its  infernal  author  brought  to  justice.  Will  you 
all  join  me  in  the  work,  without  flinching  or  flagging?  " 

The  low  but  firmly-responded  "  Yes,  yes,  all  of  us,"  told  the 
hunter  that  he  would  know  no  lack  of  efficient  aid  in  carrying 
out  his  resolution. 

"  Let  us,  then,"  he  said,  "  leave  the  women  and  boys,  a  few 
minutes,  and  retire  back  here  a  few  rods,  out  of  their  hearing, 
to  determine  on  the  first  steps  to  be  taken." 

In  accordance  with  this  suggestion,  the  men  withdrew,  by 
themselves,  to  a  convenient  place  on  the  site  of  an  old  camping- 
ground,  within  the  forest,  a  few  rods  farther  up  the  lake,  leav- 
ing Mrs.  Elwood  and  her  female  attendants  slowly  retracing 
their  steps  back  to  her  house,  from  which  they  had  accompa- 
nied her  to  this  spot,  and  the  boys  amusing  themselves  in  seemg 
who  could  throw  a  stone  farthest  into  the  lake.  The  men,  now 
relieved  from  the  fear  of  causing  Mrs.  Elwood  needless  alarm, 
and  of  having  their  remarks  reported  by  others  of  the  mingled 
company,  —  to  the  injury,  perhaps,  of  the  investigation  on  hand, 
—  at  once  gave  vent  to  their  smothered  convictions,  and  feelings 
of  indignation  and  horror,  in  an  exciting  debate ;  which  soon  re- 
sulted in  the  determination  to  dispatch,  the  next  morning,  four 
men  in  two  canoes  up  the  lakes,  in  search  of  the  missing,  or 
such  traces  of  them  as  might  lead  to  a  discovery  of  their  fate ; 
while  the  rest  should  remain  in  the  settlement,  to  watch  for 
new  indications  there  and  keep  a  vigilant  eye  on  the  move- 
ments of  the  bold  but  wary  villain,  whom  they  all  believed  to 
be  the  perpetrator  of  the  supposed  outrage.     But,  before  they 

23* 


270 

had  fully  settled  the  details  of  their  plan,  their  attention  was 
arrested  by  a  shouting  from  the  boys,  who  announced  that  a 
strange  canoe  was  approaching  them  from  the  other  part  of  the 
lake.  Plearing  this,  and  thinking  the  new-comer  might  have 
perhaps  arrived  from  the  upper  lakes,  and  could  give  them  im- 
portant information,  the  men  immediately  suspended  their  con- 
sultation, and  came  out  to  the  landing  to  hail  him,  or  to  await 
his  approach.  They  soon  discovered  that  the  rower  was  an 
Indian,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  trapper  began  to  recog- 
nize the  canoe,  from  some  peculiarity  about  the  bow,  to  be  his 
own,  and  the  one  he  had  left  with  the  boats  of  his  companions 
on  the  Oquossak  the  season  before,  This,  if  true,  might  lead 
to  hnportant  developments ;  and  the  company  kept  their  eyes 
keenly  fixed  on  the  rower,  to  see  if  he  would  manifest  any  dis- 
position to  avoid  them.  But  he  kept  steadily  on  towards  the 
landing,  and,  in  another  minute,  was  within  near  hailing  dis 
tance. 

"  Hillo !  my  red  friend,  where  did  you  get  that  canoe  ?  "  cried 
the  trapper. 

"Tell  you  soon,  —  you  make  me  believe  you  right  to  know,*- 
quietly  replied  the  native,  without  appearing  to  be  in  the  least 
disturbed  by  the  question,  or  any  inference  which  might  natu- 
rally be  drawn  from  it. 

"  Well,  I  call  make  you  believe  I  have  a  right  to  know,  if 
you  are  willing  to  believe ;  for  I  can  swear  the  canoe  is  my 
own,  and  prove  it,  too,  by  some  of  these  gentlemen,"  returned 
the  trapper,  with  warmth. 

"Maybe, — we  see  soon,"  responded  the  other,  an  intelli- 
gent, good-looking,  middle-aged  Indian,  now  slipping  ashore  and 
firmly  confronting  the  company. 

"  Now  tell  us  where  you  got  it,  sir,"  again  sharply  demanded 
the  trapper.  « I  have  offered  to  swear  to  my  ownership,  and 
,«  ove  it ;  so  tell  how  you  came  by  it,  unless  you  would  have  us 
relieve  you  stole  it." 

''  Stole  it  ?  "  reproachfully  said  the  Indian.   "  Ask  that  man," 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  271 

he  added,  pointing  to  Carvil,  whom  he  appeared  to  have  previ- 
ously recognized,  —  "  ask  him,  if  me  do  thing  like  that?" 

"Moose-killer,  is  this  you?"  exclaimed  Carvil,  who  had 
been  eying  the  stranger  Indian  with  a  hesitating  air.  "  I 
thought,  from  the  first,  I  knew  you,  but  couldn't  quite  decide. 
Moose-killer,  I  am  glad  you  have  come.  We  are  just  at  this 
time  trying  to  search  out  a  dark  affair,  which  we  fear  has  hap- 
pened, and  with  which  this  boat  you  came  in  may  possibly  be 
connected.  "We  should  be  glad  to  make  a  few  inquiries  of  you, 
when  you  are  ready  to  hear  them.  There  need,"  he  added, 
turning  to  the  trapper  and  the  others,  "  there  need  be  no  fear 
but  this  man  will  tell  a  true  story ;  I  have  met  him  on  the 
Great  Megantic,  where  he  goes  by  the  name  I  have  called  him, 
on.  account  of  his  well-known  expertness  in  moose-killing." 

The  Indian  started  at  the  significant  allusion  which  had  been 
made  to  the  subject  that  was  then  engaging  the  attention  of 
those  present,  and  its  possible  connection  with  his  canoe ;  and, 
with  unusual  promptness  for  one  of  his  demure  and  slow- 
speaking  race,  announced  himself  ready  to  tell  his  story. 

"  Moose-killer  is  about  to  speak,"  said  Carvil,  looking  round 
on  the  eagerly  expectant  company.  "  We  will  all  listen. 
What  he  will  say  will  be  true." 

"  Hear,  in  my  country,"  thereupon  began  Moose-killer,  in 
the  abbreviated,  broken,  and  sententious  language  peculiar  to 
the  Ked  Man, — "hear,  in  my  country,  beaver  bring  more  this 
side  the  mountains  ;  so  come  over,  and  been  to  Bethel-town  to 
sell  'em.  Come  over  mountains,  down  piece,  the  river  you  call 
Magalloway,  —  then  strike  off  down  to  big  lake,  Megantic. 
Then  follow  shore  long  way;  but  stop  sudden,  —  start  back! 
See  much  blood  on  the  leaves,  —  trail  all  along  down  to  the 
water.  Then  go  back,  look  again,  —  find  where  man  fall,  bleed 
much, —  die, — lay  there  till  dead  quite.  Man,  because  see 
where  hands  catch  hold  of  moss,  leaves, — feet  kick  in  ground. 
All  dead,  because  feet  limber  and  no  catch  in  brush  dragging 
to  shore, — find  where  canoe  hitch  to  shore, — dead  man  put  in. 


272  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

rowed  away,  sunk  in  lake,  likely.  Look  all  over  ground  again, 
much  time, —  then  come  on  long  way,  and  find  that  canoe,  hid 
in  bushes,  —  take  it,  go  sell  beaver, —  then  come  here  quick  to 
tell  story,  see  who  missing." 

We  Avill  not  undertake  to  describe  the  intense  excitement 
which  this  brief  but  pregnant  story  of  the  Indian  produced  on 
the  company,  who  ,  though  hoping  to  gather  something  from 
him  that  might  be  of  use  in  the  inquiry  on  hand,  were  yet  little 
expecting  a  development  so  startling  as  this.  They — espe- 
cially those  but  little  acquainted  with  the  Indian  .character — 
could,  at  first,  hardly  believe  that  a  story  of  such  horrors, 
if  true,  could  be  told  so  quietly,  and  with  so  little  apparent  feel- 
ing, as  the  narrator  had  exhibited  during  his  recital ;  and  they 
immediately  subjected  him  to  a  long  and  close  cross-examina- 
tion. Nothing,  however,  was  elicited  to  weaken  his  story,  but 
some  things  to  confirm  it.  Among  these  was  a  faint  stain  of 
blood,  which  JMoose-killer  pointed  out  to  the  company,  in  the 
bow  of  the  canoe,  and  which  was  evidently  but  lately  made ; 
while  the  size  and  height  of  the  man,  supposed  to  be  murdered, 
which  the  Indian  judged  of  by  a  similar  curious  process  with 
that  by  which  he  reached  his  other  conclusions,  were  seen  to 
correspond  with  the  dimensions  of  the  elder  El  wood ;  who  was 
believed  to  be  the  man  thus  indicated,  though  it  left  the  fate  of 
Claud  still  shrouded  in  mystery. 

"  Poor  Mark  Elwood ! "  exclaimed  the  hunter,  with  a  sigh, 
as  they  closed  their  examination  of  the  Indian.  "  He  is  dead; 
whatever  may  have  become  of  his  son,  for  whom  there  is  still 
some  hope,  he,  at  least,  is  dead  !  murdered  in  cold  blood !  and 
who  need  doubt  the  identity  of  the  accursed  author  of  the 
deed?" 

"  This  is,  certainly,  something  like  tangible  evidence,"  re- 
sponded Carvil,  whose  former  studies  enabled  him  to  speak 
more  understandingly,  in  the  matter  of  legal  evidence,  than  his 
companions.  "  And,  though  it  is  still  only  circumstantial,  yet, 
when  taken  in  connection  with  Gaut's  false  story,  and  all  other 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  273 

of  the  attending  circumstances,  it  stands  out  most  remarkably 
significant  against  the  man  ;  and,  even  without  any  additional 
proof,  it  would,  I  think,  warrant  us  in  arresting  him." 

"  In  God's  name,  then,  let  it  be  done,  before  he  escapes  from 
the  country !  "  cried  the  hunter,  witL  startling  emphasis.  "  But 
we  must  all  keep  the  discoveries  we  have  made  to-day,  as  well 
as  the  movements  we  may  now  make,  as  secret  as  death,  lest 
he  hear  of  them  and  take  the  alarm." 

An  earnest  consultation  was  then  held,  and  a  plan  of  opera- 
tions soon  adopted.  By  this  it  was  arranged  that  Moose-killer 
—  who,  when  he  had  gathered  what  was  known  of  Gaut  Gur- 
ley,  and  obtained  a  description  of  his  person,  entered  into  the 
arrangements  with  an  unexpected  alacrity  —  it  was  arranged 
that  Moose-killer,  Carvil,  Tomah,  and  two  of  the  settlers? 
should  start  immediately  up  the  lakes,  in  further  search  for  the 
body  of  Mark  Elwood  (whose  fate  was  now  treated  as  settled), 
and,  also,  for  a  more  general  search  round  the  two  upper  lakes 
for  his  son,  Claud  ;  who,  it  was  hoped,  had  by  some  means  been 
separated  from  his  father,  and  suffered  to  escape,  despite  the 
improbability  that  he  would  remain  so  long  absent,  if  nothing 
had  befaJlen  him.  Phillips  also  concluded  to  accompany  them 
as  far  as  the  next  lake  above,  to  see  the  chief  and  his  daughter, 
to  confide  to  them  the  discoveries  of  the  day,  and  put  them 
on  the  lookout  for  further  indications.  The  rest  of  the  com- 
pany were  to  return  quietly  and  separately,  as  far  as  could  con- 
veniently be  done,  to  the  village,  and  there  remain  till  after 
dark ;  when  two  of  their  number  were  to  ride,  as  fast  as  horses 
could  carry  them,  to  Lancaster,  for  warrants,  a  sheriff,  and  his 
posse,  to  be  on  the  ground  as  early  as  possible  the  next  morn- 
ing ;  while  others  were  to  proceed  up  the  Magalloway,  and  lurk 
round  in  the  woods  within  sight  of  the  house  of  Gaut  Gurley, 
as  spies  on  his  movements. 

The  company  then  separated  on  their  several  destinations  ; 
and,  during  the  remainder  of  the  afternoon,  nothing  occurred 
in  the  settlement  which  need  here  be  mentionedj  except  the 


274  GAUT  GURLEY. 

secret  and  cautiously-made  preparations  for  the  proposed  action 
of  the  night,  that,  though  imperceptible  to  the  uninitiated,  were 
yet  actively  going  on  at  the  village.  About  sunset,  however, 
the  hunter  returned  from  his  visit  to  the  chiefs ;  but  in  a  state 
of  no  little  perplexity  and  concern,  at  an  event  which  he  unex- 
pectedly found  had  there  occurred.  This  was  the  unaccountar 
ble  absence  of  Fluella,  who,  without  apprising  her  father  of 
her  intentions,  had  secretly  left  home  several  days  before.  As 
the  hunter  had  depended  considerably  on  the  girl's  acuteness 
and  means  of  observation  at  the  commanding  point  of  her  resi- 
dence, he  was  both  disappointed  and  puzzled  at  her  absence. 
And,  as  he  had  been  debating  with  himself,  on  his  way  across 
the  lake,  whether  he  had  not  better  call  on  Mrs.  Elwood,  and 
take  the  first  step  towards  gradually  preparing  her  mind  for  the 
worst,  in  regard  to  her  husband,  he  now  resolved  to  do  so,  with 
the  further  object  of  gettmg  her  version  of  Fluella's  absence 
at  such  a  juncture.  Accordingly,  he  called  at  the  house;  and, 
seeing  the  afflicted  woman's  entreatingly  expectant  looks,  he  at 
once  entered  on  his  painful  task  by  hinting  his  fears  for  the  fate 
of  her  husband ;  when,  somewhat  to  his  surprise,  she  cut  him 
short  by  sadly  remarking  : 

« I  know  it  all." 

"How? — what  have  you  heard?"  eagerly  asked  the  hunter. 

"  I  don't  know  it  by  what  I  have  heard,"  she  replied,  in  the 
same  sad  accents ;  "  for  I  have  heard  less,  perhaps,  than  you ; 
but  I  knew  it  would  be  so,  from  the  hour  he  departed.  And,  a 
few  days  ago,  my  heart  received  a  shock.  It  was  from  the 
same  blow  that  killed  him.  Yes,  poor  Mr.  Elwood  is  dead ! 
I  have  buried  him !  But  my  son  Claud  —  O,  my  son  Claud ! " 
The  astonished  hunter  then  told  her  of  the  singular  absence  of 
Fluella ;  when,  again  to  his  surprise,  she  started  up,  and  joy- 
fully exclaimed,  "  He  lives! — though  in  danger,  perhaps,  he 
lives,  and  I  shall  see  him  again  ! " 

"Wondering  whether  her  reason  was  not  unsettled,  the  hunter 
departed,  and  hurried  on  to  the  village. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

**  What  justice  ever  other  judgment  taught. 
But  he  should  die  who  merits  not  to  live." 

Spenser. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  on  the  day  next  succeed- 
ing the  eventful  one  which  was  marked  by  the  occurrences  nar- 
rated in  the  last  chapter,  a  cavalcade  of  about  a  dozen  men  on 
horseback,  followed  by  a  single  wagon,  containing  some  fire-arms, 
two  or  three  pairs  of  iron  handcuffs,  and  a  few  other  articles 
of  luggage,  came  clattering  down  the  road  from  the  west,  to- 
wards the  tavern  with  wliich  the  reader  has  already  been  made 
familiar.  The  men,  who  had  been  dispatched  for  the  shire- 
town  of  the  county,  had  ridden  hard  all  night,  reached  the  place 
at  daylight,  drummed  up  the  officers  of  justice,  got  them  started 
at  an  early  hour,  and  urged  them  on  with  such  speed  that,  within 
twenty  hours,  they  had  arrived  at  the  scene  of  action.  After 
the  halt  of  an  hour  at  the  tavern,  for  rest  and  refreshment,  and 
a  brief  consultation  with  the  settlers,  the  sheriff,  and  his  posse, 
now  swelled  by  volunteers  from  the  settlement,  set  forth,  under 
the  guidance  of  Phillips,  for  the  residence  of  the  supposed 
criminal,  calculating  to  reach  there  about  dusk,  —  the  hour  they 
deemed  most  favorable  for  making  the  arrest.  After  proceed- 
ing in  silence  about  two-thirds  of  the  way  to  their  destination, 
they  halted,  to  make  their  final  preparations  and  arrangements 
for  the  onset ;  when,  knowing  the  great  strength  and  desperate 
character  of  the  man  with  whom  tliey  would  have  to  deal,  they 
first  carefully  prepared  their  fire-arms,  and  then  detailed  a  half- 
dozen  of  their  number,  most  conversant  with  the  locality,  to  go 
forward,  spread  themselves  around  the  borders  of  Gaut's  clear- 

(275) 


276  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

ing,  and  cautiously  advance  to  the  house,  so  as  to  head  ofi" 
any  attempt  he  might  make  to  escape,  when  the  main  body 
made  their  appearance.  All  the  time  spent  in  these  precau- 
tions, however,  as  well  as  this  whole  jaunt  thus  far  up  the  river, 
was  destined  to  be  mostly  lost ;  for,  as  the  company  were  again 
beginning  to  move  forward,  they  were  met  by  the  scouts,  dis- 
patched the  night  before,  hurrying  back,  most  of  them  in  a  dis- 
abled condition,  and  with  the  report  that  Gaut  had  escaped 
about  an  hour  before.  They  had  lain  in  their  coverts  all  day, 
and  in  the  fore  part  of  it  nothing  had  been  seen  to  excite  their 
suspicions ;  but,  towards  night,  they  noticed  him  cleaning  his 
rifle  and  pistols,  as  near  as  they  could  judge,  and  then,  soon  after, 
bringing  out  a  pack  and  placing  it  by  the  side  of  his  rifle  at  the 
door ;  and  scarcely  had  they  time  to  concentrate  before  he  came 
out,  shouldered  his  pack,  took  .his  arms,  and  proceeded  towards 
a  canoe  moored  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  They  then  instantly 
resolved  to  intercept  him ;  and,  running  for  the  spot,  came  up  to 
him  just  as  he  had  laid  his  rifle  in  the  boat ;  when  he  turned 
upon  them  with  the  suddenness  and  fury  of  a  pursued  tiger ; 
seized  the  foremost,  who  had  laid  his  hands  on  the  canoe,  and, 
with  giant  strength,  threw  him  headlong  into  the  river;  hurled 
the  second  with  stunning  effect  on  the  ground ;  knocked  down  a 
third  with  his  fist ;  leaped  into  his  canoe,  sent  it  swiftly  across 
the  stream,  ran  up  the  opposite  bank,  and  disappeared  in  the 
woods,  before  they  had  recovered  from  their  confusion,  or 
thought  of  having  recourse  to  their  rifles  to  stop  him. 

"  Slipped  through  our  fingers  and  gone ! "  said  the  sheriff, 
with  an  air  of  chagrin  and  disappointment. 

"  Yes,  for  this  onset,"  said  Codman,  the  next  to  volunteer 
remarks  in  the  provoking  nonplus  in  which  they  now  all  found 
themselves.  "  Yes,  but  I  should  like  mightily  to  know  how  he 
got  wind  of  our  movements  ?  If  the  devil  didn't  tell  him,  I 
don't  think  he  done  as  well  by  his  friend  as  he  ought." 

"  Perhaps,"  rejoined  the  sheriff',  after  the  laugh  of  some  and 
the  approving  glances  of  others,  which  had  followed  the  char- 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  277 

acteristic  remark  of  the  trapper,  had  ^^assed  away,  —  "  perhaps 
he,  or  some  of  his  family,  caught  a  ghmpse  of  these  scouts 
round  their  clearing  during  the  day ;  or  perhaps  he  has  an 
accomplice,  or  tool,  whom  he  had  engaged  to  watch  public  move- 
ments, and  bring  him  word." 

"  I  have  thought  of  some  such  thing,  myself,"  remarked 
Phillips.  "  In  the  case  of  his  robbing  our  camp,  last  fall,  I  felt 
quite  confident  he  must  have  had  some  accomplice,  or  some 
secret  agent,  to  take  off  the  furs  for  him.  If  he  has  such  an 
one  now,  I  think  it  must  be  a  Jesuit  priest,  as  I  have  heard 
that  such  a  looking  personage  has,  once  or  twice,  been  seen  at 
Gaut's  house  since  he  moved,  into  the  settlement." 

"  Well,  if  the  villain  has  such  a  character  as  that  in  tow,  he 
would  be  devil  enough  for  all  common  purposes,"  responded  the 
sheriff.  "  But,  however  all  that  may  be,  I  fear  he  has  struck  a 
line  for  Canada,  and  this  is  the  last  we  shall  ever  see  of  him  in 
this  country." 

"  Not  for  Canada,"  confidently  said  the  hunter  ;  "  for  I  know 
enough  about  him  to  make  me  feel  quite  sure  that  he  will  never 
again  trust  his  head  within  reach  of  British  authority." 

"  Ah  !  "  exclaimed  the  sheriff,  '•  what  is  it  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  had  better  not  be  told  just  yet,"  answered  the 
other,  decisively.  "  Let  us  first  see  whether  he  can't  be  caught 
and  hung  here,  for  his  last  crying  offence." 

"  But  do  you  think  he  can  yet  be  overtaken,  and  arrested  ?  " 
asked  the  former. 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  returned  the  hunter,  with  earnest  confi- 
dence. "  He  must,  and  shall,  be  taken  !  God's  curse  is  on  the 
man  ;  and  he  will  never,  I  tell  you,  never  be  suffered  to  escape 
us." 

"  Well, then,"  resumed  the  sheriff,  thoughtfully,  "what  course 
do  you  think  he  will  take,  and  where  secrete  himself,  so  that  he 
can  be  found  ?  I,  on  my  part,  stand  ready  to  do  every  thing  in 
my  power  to  bring  the  miscreant,  of  whose  guilt  I  think  there 
can  now  be  but  little  doubt,  to  immediate  justice.  Now,  as  you 
24 


278 

are  said  to  be  a  man  of  observation  and  energy,  Mr.  Phillips, 
let  us  have  the  benefit  of  your  opinion  and  advice  in  the 
matter."  ^ 

"  It  is  my  opinion,"  said  the  hunter,  in  response,  after  drop- 
ping his  head  a  moment  in  study,  "  it  is  very  clearly  my  opin- 
ion that  the  fellow  will  now  aim  to  reach  some  of  the  eastern 
cities,  —  over  the  Umbagog,  most  likely,  in  a  canoe  that  he  keeps 
concealed  somewhere  on  the  western  shore,  which  is  only  a  mile 
or  two  over  this  ridge,  that  rises  from  the  other  bank  of  the 
river,  here  against  us.  He  will  not  be  likely  to  come  back  to 
his  house,  or  the  river,  where  he  will  still  suppose  we  are  on 
the  watch ;  nor  will  he  start  out  on  the  lake  till  after  dark,  lest 
he  be  seen,  and  his  course  traced ;  but  lie  concealed  till  that  time 
in  some  of  the  difficult  rocky  steeps  that  shut  down  to  the 
lake." 

"  Your  ideas  of  his  probable  aims  and  movements  appear 
reasonable,  Mr.  Phillips.  Now,  what  are  the  steps  you  would 
advise  to  be  taken  for  his  apprehension  ?  "  asked  the  sheriff. 

"  "Well,  my  plan  would  be  something  like  this,"  replied  the 
hunter,  musingly.  "  I  would  post  half  a  dozen  men,  for  the 
night, — to  be  relieved  in  the  morning,  — a  half  mile  or  so  apart, 
along  this  river,  above  and  below  here,  to  be  walking  back  and 
forth,  and  occasionally  firing  a  gun.  The  others  go  back,  and 
a  sufficient  number  get  on  to  the  lake  before  dark  to  have 
canoes  in  station  every  quarter  of  a  mile  along  the  western 
shore.  Codman,  you  will  be  a  good  hand  to  manage  this  com- 
pany. As  for  myself,  I  will  wade  the  river  somewhere  herea- 
bouts, go  over  through  the  woods  to  the  lake-shore,  be  mousing 
round  the  shore  a  little,  in  search  of  his  canoe,  and,  if  I  find  it, 
be  out  on  the  water  by  the  time  you  get  there ;  if  not,  I  will  be 
within  call  of  some  of  you,  and  give,  for  a  signal,  the  cry  of  a 
raccoon,  which  I  can  imitate  tolerably,  I  believe." 

"  But  you  don't  propose  to  go  alone  ?  "  asked  several,  anx- 
iously. "  It  might  be  dangerous  business,  if  you  should  happen 
to  encounter  him  with  no  help  within  call." 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  279 

"  Yes,  I  think  I  will  go  alone,"  quietly  replied  the  hunter. 
"  If  he  can  see  me  before  I  do  him,  he  will  do  better  than  I 
think  he  can.  And,  if  1  do  get  my  eye  on  him  first,  he  will 
stop  and  yield,  or  die,  as  sure  as  my  rifle  is  true  to  its  old  trust ; 
for  I  should  feel  it  my  bounden  duty  to  stop  him  by  bullet,  if 
need  be,  in  case  he  should  attempt  to  flee,  as  much  as  I  should 
to  shoot  a  painter  carrying  off  one  of  my  own  children." 

By  the  approval  of  the  sheriff,  and  the  concurrence  of  all, 
the  hunter's  plan  of  operations  was  immediately  adopted.  And, 
accordingly,  the  designated  numbers  were  told  off  to  man  the 
river,  and  at  once  set  in  motion  to  perform  the  duty ;  while  the 
rest  retraced  their  way  to  the  village,  except  the  hunter,  who, 
seeking  a  shoal  place,  waded  the  river,  and  was  soon  out  of 
sight  among  the  thickets  of  the  opposite  bank. 

On  the  return  of  the  company  to  the  tavern,  every  boat  to 
be  found  on  the  river,  from  that  place  to  the  lake,  was  immedi- 
ately put  in  requisition,  for  the  service  of  the  night.  And  by 
early  twilight,  eight  canoes,  each  containing  two  or  three  well- 
ai-med  men,  led  on  by  the  trapper,  in  a  single  canoe,  wera  seen 
emerging  from  the  outlet  into  the  broad  lake,  and  slowly  filing 
off  along  its  western  border.  Coasting  in  closely  to  the  shore, 
so  as  to  keep  within  the  shadow  of  the  woods,  they  pursued 
their  noiseless  way  up  the  lake,  to  a  point  where  the  low. 
marshy  land  lying  between  the  lower  part  of  the  Umbagog  and 
the  Magalloway  rises  into  the  gradually-swelling  ridge,  which, 
a  mile  or  two  farther  on,  becomes  a  rocky,  precipitous  moun- 
tain, whose  beethng  cliffs,  overhanging  the  deep,  dark  waters 
beneath,  were  crowned  with  their  primeval  growth  of  towering 
pines.  Here  they  paused  long  enough  to  station  one  of  their 
canoes,  near  a  small  point,  commanding  a  view  across  the  cor- 
responding coves  on  either  side ;  and  then  cautiously  proceeded 
onward,  dropping  a  canoe,  in  like  manner,  every  five  or  six 
hundred  yards,  till  the  extremity  of  the  western  coast  was 
reached,  the  line  efficiently  manned,  and  the  trapper  left  to 
cruise  alone  over  the  cordon  of  boats  thus  stretched  alon^:^  the 


280  GAUT  gurley;  or, 

sliore,  to  carry  any  needed  intelligence,  and  make  independent 
observations.  It  was  now  dark,  and,  being  a  moonless  night, 
all  within  the  shade  of  the  mountains,  especially,  was  wrapt 
in  almost  impenetrable  gloom ;  so  that  the  ear,  rather  than  the 
eye,  must  now  be  depended  on  for  whatever  discoveries  were 
to  be  made.  Nothing  as  yet,  to  the  disappointment  and  in- 
creasing anxiety  of  the  company,  had  been  seen  or  heard  of 
the  hunter. 

"  He  cannot  have  been  killed,  so  soon,  can  he  ?  "  whispered 
the  sheriff,  in  one  of  the  last-stationed  canoes,  as  the  trapper 
glided  alongside,  to  hold  communication  with  the  officer. 

"  No,"  was  the  low-toned  reply  ;  "  that  could  not  have  hap- 
pened, if  there  were  any  fear  of  such  a  thing,  without  one  or 
more  rifle-shots,  which,  in  this  calm  evening,  and  this  favorable 
locality  for  conveying  sounds  to  a  great  distance,  we  must  have 
heard,  even  down  to  the  tavern.  No,  I  will  risk  him.  I  think 
he  must  have  got  on  to  the  fellow's  trail,  and,  if  near  the  lake, 
lies  in  some  spot  where  he  can't  move  away  without  danger  of 
alarming  the  game.  We  have  nothing  to  do  but  wait  patiently. 
Phillips  knows  we  are  here  in  waiting,  and  he  will  report  him- 
self as  soon  as  he  can." 

They  did  not,  however,  have  to  wait  long.  In  a  few  min- 
utes, a  small,  shrill,  quavering  cry,  which  few  could  have  distin- 
guished from  that  of  a  raccoon,  rose  from  a  thicket  on  the 
shore,  a  short  distance  below. 

"Ah!  that  is  he,"  softly  cried  the  trapper;  "I  know  the 
thicket  he  is  hailing  from.  If  you  will  remain  just  where  you 
axe,  I  will  scull  my  canoe  down  to  the  spot,  take  him  in  with  me, 
if  he  has  not  found  a  boat,  —  or  at  any  rate  bring  him  here  to 
make  his  report." 

Like  the  gliding  of  a  fish,  shrinking  away  from  sight,  the 
light  canoe,  under  the  invisible  impulse  of  the  dexterously 
handled  oar  of  the  trapper,  passed  noiselessly  away,  and  dis- 
appeared in  the  darkness.  But,  long  before  the  expectant  offi- 
cer, who  had  been  vainly  listening  for  some  sound,  either  of  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  281 

going  or  the  coming  of  the  absent  canoe,  had  thought  of  its  re- 
turn, it  was  again  at  his  side,  with  the  anticijDated  addition  to 
its  occupants. 

"  Here  is  the  man,  to  speak  for  himself,"  said  the  trapper, 
putting  out  a  hand  to  guard  off  and  prevent  the  canoes  from 
grazing. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Phillips,"  said  the  sheriff,  in  the  same  cautious 
under-tone  by  which  all  their  communications  had  been  gradu- 
ated, "  we  are  all  looking  to  you,  —  what  is  your  report  ?  " 

"  In  the  first  place,  that  he  is  here." 

"Where?" 

"  Sixty  or  seventy  rods  to  the  north  of  us,  in  a  secure  retreat 
up  among  the  rocks,  about  a  dozen  rods  from  the  shore." 

"  Are  you  sure  of  that  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  How  did  you  make  the  discovery  ?" 

"  I  will  tell  you.  When  I  came  over,  I  struck  down  to  the 
lake,  nearly  abreast  the  lower  end  of  the  ridge,  and  cautiously 
moved  along  the  shore,  upwards,  in  search  of  the  suspected 
boat ;  without  discovering  it,  however,  till  I  came  to  the  rocky 
pass  I  have  alluded  to,  a  short  distance  above  here ;  when, 
peering  out  into  the  approaching  darkness,  I  caught  sight  of  it 
run  under  a  treetop  lying  partly  in  the  water.  Your  boats  had 
not  got  on  there ;  and  thinking,  if  I  took  the  boat  out  on  to  the 
water,  as  I  had  proposed,  he  might  discover  the  loss  too  soon, 
take  the  alarm,  and  conclude  to  escape  through  the  woods 
round  the  upper  lakes,  I  varied  my  plan,  and  stationed  myself 
back  a  few  rods,  to  see  if  he  would  not  come  down  to  escape  by 
his  canoe.  I  had  trailed  him  to  the  top  of  this  rocky  eastern 
slope,  before  I  struck  down  to  the  lake,  and  knew  he  must  be 
somewhere  near ;  so  I  cocked  my  rifle,  for  instant  use,  and  stood 
ready  for  his  approach.  And  in  a  short  time  I  caught  the 
sound  of  his  movements,  sliding  cautiously  down  the  rocky 
steeps  from  the  spot  above,  where  I  suspected  he  had  housed 
himself.     But,  before  he  reached  the  bottom  of  the  short  ravine 

24* 


282  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

he  must  come  clown,  or  could  be  seen  where  I  stood,  a  dry  stick 
unluckily  broke  under  my  foot,  and  the  sound,  as  I  perceived  at 
once,  brought  him  to  a  stand.  And,  though  he  did  not  know, 
and  don't  know  yet,  whether  the  sound  was  caused  by  the  step 
of  man  or  beast,  yet  he  soon  seemed  to  think  it  safest  to  retreat ; 
and  my  ear  could  distinctly  trace  his  movements,  as  he  clam- 
bered and  pulled  himself  along  back  up  the  ledges  to  his  re- 
treat. I  then  went  down  to  the  shore ;  and  perceiving,  from  the 
slight  agitation  of  the  water  and  the  faint  sound  of  its  gurgling 
under  oars,  that  you  had  got  on  to  the  ground,  I  stole  down  the 
shore  a  piece,  and  gave  the  signal,  as  you  heard." 

"  Are  you  familiar  with  the  place  where  you  think  he  lies 
concealed  ?  " 

"  Yes,  nearly  as  much  so  as  with  my  own  door-yard." 

"  Wliat  sort  of  a  place  is  it,  and  how  many  ways  are  there  to 
reach  it  or  to  escape  from  it  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  most  curious  place  in  all  these  j^arts,  and  there  is 
but  one  .way,  I  ever  could  find,  to  get  to  it ;  and  that  is,  by 
climbing  up  the  ledgy  shelf  of  the  face  of  the  hill,  through  a  sort 
of  ravine  that  opens  from  it  down  to  the  lake,  where  there  is  scarce 
room  enough,  on  either  side,  to  pass  along  the  shore  between 
the  perpendicular  cliffs  and  the  water.  It  is  an  old  bear's  den, 
in  fact,  passing  horizontally  into  the  rocks  twelve  or  fifteen  feet, 
of  varying  breadth,  and,  after  you  get  in,  from  three  to  six  feet 
in  height.  I  have  taken  at  least  a  half-dozen  fine  bears  from 
it,  in  my  day,  and  supposed  I  was  the  only  one  knowing  of  it ; 
but  Gaut  must  have  discovered  it  before  this ;  for  I  at  once 
found  by  his  trail  that  he  steered  directly  for  the  spot,  on  leav- 
ing the  Magalloway." 

"  He  did  ?  "  interposed  the  trapper ;  "  lie  find  it,  when  he  has 
been  here  in  the  settlement  less  than  a  year,  and  knows  little 
about  the  woods ;  and  I,  who  have  been  here  a  dozen  years, 
knew  nothing  about  it?  He  never  found  it  without  help^  and 
that,  too,  from  the  same  character  that  let  him  know  we  were 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  283 

coming  to  lils  house,  to-clay.  I  tell  yon,  the  Old  Boy  is  in 
that  man  ! " 

"  Then  we  will  hang  huB  and  the  Old  Boy  with  one  rope," 
resumed  the  hunter,  "  for  we  are  now  sure  of  him." 

"I  hope  so,"  said  the  sheriff;  "but  can  he  be  taken  to- 
night?" 

"  He  might,  possibly,  if  we  were  willing  to  run  risks  enough," 
replied  the  hunter,  doubtfully.  "  But  I  should  hardly  thiiik  it 
advisable  to  make  the  attempt.  He  could  not  be  drawn  from 
the  cave,  if  we  made  the  onset ;  while,  if  we  entered  it,  he 
could  easily  kill  several  of  us  before  he  could  be  secured." 

"  What  shall  be  done,  then  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  studying  on  that,  and  the  best  thing  I  can 
think  of,  is,  to  post  men  enough  to  guard  him  securely  through 
the  night ;  and  then  have  on  force  enough  in  the  morning  to  un- 
burrow  him,  by  some  means  or  other,  which  we  will  contrive 
when  the  time  comes." 

"  But  will  he  not  come  down,  to  escape  in  his  boat,  to-night  ?'' 

"  I  rather  expect  not.  After  hearing  the  noise  I  made,  and, 
then  coupling  it  with  my  signal,  which  he  will  then  be  suspicious 
of,  as  well  as  of  the  sounds  that  most  likely  have  reached  or 
will  reach  his  ears  from  some  of  our  boats  ;  after  all  this,  he  will, 
probably,  be  afraid  of  falling  into  a  trap,  and  would  prefer  tak- 
ing his  chances  of  escape  by  daylight.  But,  if  he  should  come 
down,  I  will  arrange  things  so  that  we  will  have  him,  to  a  dead 
certainty." 

The  suggestions  of  the  hunter  were  again  adopted ;  and  he 
was  again  requested  to  take  the  lead  in  putting  the  proposed 
plan  into  execution. 

Accordingly,  after  directing  the  trapper  to  concentrate  those 
stationed  in  their  canoes  above  with  those  in  one  or  two  below, 
he  entered  the  boat  with  the  sheriff  and  his  associate ;  and,  tak- 
ing an  oar,  slowly  rowed  along  towards  the  place  he  had  desig- 
nated as  the  retreat  of  the  desperate  outlaw,  on  whose  seizure 
they  were  so  resolutely  determined. 


284  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

After  reacliing  the  spot,  and  waiting  till  the  expected  boat- 
crews  arrived,  the  hunter  quietly  landed,  and  stationed  two  of 
the  men  in  the  narrow  pass  north  of  the  gorge,  with  orders  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout  through  the  night,  hail  whoever  might 
approach,  and  shoot  him  down  before  suffering  him  to  escape. 
He  next  led  two  more  up  round  the  nearest  approaches  of  the 
cave,  and  posted  one  on  each  side,  a  little  above  it,  to  prevent 
all  possibility  of  escape  over  the  rocks  and  ledges  in  that  direc- 
tion ;  and  then,  returning  down  to  the  shore,  selected  the  trap- 
per to  occupy  with  him  the  southern  pass  to  the  gorge,  thus  re- 
serving for  himself,  and  the  man  on  whom  he  believed  he  could 
best  rely  in  an  emergency,  the  post  where  an  encounter  would 
be  most  likely  to  occur.  After  completing  these  arrangements, 
and  landing  a  pair  of  handcuffs  from  the  sheriff's  boat,  he 
dismissed  the  officer  to  collect  all  the  rest  of  the  company,  not 
thus  retained,  and  return  to  the  village  for  the  night,  a,nd  for  a 
fresh  rally  the  next  morning. 

It  was  now  ten  o'clock  at  night ;  and  from  that  time,  for  the 
next  six  hours,  the  stillness  and  darkness  of  death  brooded  over 
the  slumbering  waters  of  the  lake.  The  mute  men  on  guard, 
—  to  whom  the  slowly-passing  hours  seemed  doubly  long  and 
gloomy,  from  the  oppressive  sense  of  the  duty  of  silence, — 
stood  immovably  at  their  posts,  alternately  employing  them- 
seves  in  guessing  at  the  hour  of  the  night,  and  intently  listening 
to  catch  some  sound  which  should  indicate  the  presence  of  the 
dreaded  object  of  their  watch.  But,  through  the  whole  night, 
no  such  sound  or  indication  reached  their  strained  senses ;  and 
most  of  them,  at  length,  were  brought  to  the  belief  that  either  he 
had  never  been  there,  or  that  he  had,  by  some  unknown  means, 
effected  his  escape.  The  hunter,  however,  never  for  a  moment 
permitted  his  faith  to  waver.  He  not  only  felt  confident  that 
Gaut  was  still  in  his  dark  cage  in  the  rocks,  but  that,  the  next 
day,  safe  means  would  be  found  to  uncage  him,  and  deliver  him 
over  to  hands  of  justice,  to  undergo  the  penalties  of  his  crimes. 
And,  as  soon  as  the  anxiously-awaited  daylight  began  to  make 


THE  TEAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  285 

its  appearance  in  the  east,  he  began  gradually  to  work  his 
noiseless  way  into  the  mouth  of  the  gorge,  and  then  up  over  the 
steeps  and  ragged  ledges,  till  he  had  gained  a  stand  under  cover 
of  a  tuft  of  clinging  evergreens,  where  he  could  obtain  an  unob- 
structed view  of  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  some  six  rods  above. 
Here,  low  crouched  behind  his  bushy  screen,  with  rifle  cocked 
and  levelled  at  the  entrance,  he  lay,  silently  awaiting  the  ap- 
proach of  daylight,  expecting  that  Gaut  would  then,  at  least,  be 
peering  out  to  ascertain  the  state  of  affairs  on  the  shore  below. 
And  the  event  soon  showed  the  correctness  of  his  reasoning. 
As  the  brightening  flushes  of  morning  fell  on  the  water,  and  be- 
gan to  throw  the  reflected  light  on  the  face  of  the  mountain,  so 
as  to  bring  its  darker  recesses  to  view,  the  hunter's  practised 
ear  soon  detected  a  movement  within  the  cave ;  and  presently 
the  head,  and  then  the  shoulders,  of  the  wary  outlaw  rose  grad- 
ually in  sight  against  the  rocks,  immediately  over  the  low 
entrance. 

"  Yield  yourself  a  prisoner,  or  die ! "  suddenly  broke  from 
the  lips  of  the  concealed  hunter. 

Gaut  cast  a  startled  glance  around  him,  and  then  instantly 
tlirew  himself  to  the  ground,  but  barely  in  time  to  escape  the 
bullet  of  the  exploding  rifle  below,  which  struck  the  rock  in  the 
exact  spot  that  a  half-second  before  was  darkened  by  the  shade 
of  his  head  and  shoulders. 

"  Went  through  the  hair  on  top  of  his  head,  I  think,  but  missed 
his  skull  by  something  like  an  inch,  probably,"  said  the  hunter, 
quickly  gliding  down  a  few  feet  over  the  edge  of  the  shelf, 
where  he  lay  so  as  to  put  a  rock  between  him  and  the  mouth 
of  the  cave.  "  But,  on  the  whole,  I  am  glad  of  it ;  for  I  had 
rather  see  him  go  by  the  hand  of  the  hangman  than  my  own." 

The  hunter  then  quietly  reloaded  his  rifle,  and  went  down 
among  his  excited  companions ;  who,  the  ban  of  silence  being 
now  removed  by  his  example,  came  forward  to  talk  over  this 
unexpected  and  startling  incident  of  the  morning,  which  had 
served  the  double  purpose  of  demonstrating  to  the  former  that 


286  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

Gaut  would  never  surrender  himself  a  prisoner,  and  to  the  lat- 
ter, the  doubted  fact  that  the  object  of  their  search  was  there? 
as  represented  to  them  the  evening  before.  With  the  whole  of 
them,  indeed,  the  affair  had  now  assumed  a  new  aspect. 
Phillips  and  Codman  put  their  heads  together,  and  began  to 
start  and  discuss  various  expedients  for  dislodging  the  in- 
trenched fugitive;  while  the  others,  in  their  excitement  and 
agitation,  walked  hurriedly  about  in  their  confined  positions 
speaking  or  thinking  of  the  desperate  and  dangerous  struggle  now 
likely  soon  to  ensue  in  the  attempted  capture,  and  anxiously 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  sheriff  and  the  additional  force,  which, 
it  was  understood,  he  would  rally  and  bring  on  with  him. 

"  They  are  coming ! "  at  length  cried  one  of  the  men  from  the 
cliff  above ;  "  they  are  coming  in  troops,  and  in  all  directions." 

The  men  on  shore  now  eagerly  ran  down  to  the  farthest  pro- 
jecting rocks,  or  on  fallen  trees  extending  into  the  water,  to 
obtain  unobstructed  views  of  the  company  thus  announced  to 
be  approaching  in  the  distance ;  when,  instead  of  the  few  they 
had  expected,  they  beheld  a  whole  fleet  of  canoes  emerging 
from  the  distant  outlet  below,  and  rowing  with  all  speed  to- 
wards them;  while,  at  the  same  time,  another  company  of 
boats  was  seen  approaching  from  the  settlement  around  the 
upper  end  of  the  lake. 

It  appeared  that,  when  the  sheriff  with  his  attendants  reached 
the  village  the  evening  before,  and  announced  the  exciting 
tidings  that  the  desperate  man,  whom  all  were  so  intent  on 
hnnting  down,  had  been  driven  to  a  stronghold  among  the  rocks 
of  the  mountain  up  the  lake,  where  it  might  require  a  large 
force  to  take  him,  men  started  off  in  all  directions,  and  rode  all 
night  with  the  news ;  which,  flying  like  wind  over  this  and  the  ad- 
joining settlements,  threw  the  whole  country,  for  thirty  or  forty 
miles  around,  into  commotion,  and  put  scores  of  bold  men  im- 
mediately on  the  march  for  the  scene  of  action.  And  the  up- 
shot was  that,  by  sunrise  the  next  morning,  more  than  fifty 
men,  hurrying  in  from  all  quarters,  had  assembled  at  the  vil- 


THE  TRAPPERS   OP  UMBAGOG,  287 

lage,  and  having  appropriated  all  the  boats  on  the  rivers,  for 
many  miles  above  and  below,  had  joined  the  company  of  the 
sheriff,  and  under  his  lead  were  now  on  their  way  to  the  great 
point  of  attraction ;  together  with  many  others  entering  the  lake 
from  other  quarters. 

In  a  short  time  the  long  retinue  of  canoes  came  clustering  to 
the  shore  ;  when  the  motley  company,  preceded  by  the  sheriff 
and  his  immediate  attendants,  all  landed,  and,  crowding  around 
the  hunter  and  his  associates,  listened,  with  many  a  half-sup- 
pressed exclamation,  indicative  of  the  deep  excitement  that 
agitated  the  mass,  to  the  recital  of  the  discoveries  and  incidents 
of  the  morning. 

"  I  cannot  believe,"  said  the  sheriff,  who  had  been  listening 
with  keen  interest  to  the  hunter's  account  of  his  bold  but  fruit- 
less attempt  to  compel  the  submission  of  the  desperado,  "  I  can- 
not believe,  after  all,  that  the  fellow  will  be  so  foolhardy  as  to 
persist  in  his  refusal  to  surrender,  when  he  knows  there  is  now 
no  longer  any  chance  for  him  to  escape.  I  will  try  him  faith- 
fully before  resorting  to  extreme  measures." 

"  That  may  be  well  enough,  perhaps,"  remarked  the  hunter, 
demurely,  feeling  a  little  rebuked  for  his  own  hastiness  in  firing 
on  the  man,  by  some  of  the  expressions  of  the  officer ;  "  yes, 
that  will  be  well  enough.  But,  if  you  succeed  in  drawing 
him  out  to  be  taken  by  means  of  words  alone,  I  will  try  the 
experiment  on  the  very  next  wolf  or  painter  I  drive  into  his 
den." 

"  Nevertheless,  it  shall  be  tried,"  returned  the  ofiicer. 

And  accordingly,  having  called  to  his  side  a  small  band  of 
well-armed  assistants,  he  proceeded  with  them  up  the  gorge,  till 
he  had  gained  the  shelf  which  afforded  the  hunter  a  covert  in 
the  previous  assault ;  when  he  stepped  fearlessly  out  in  full  view 
of  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  and,  with  a  loud  voice,  calling  the 
name  of  Gaut  Gurley,  "  commanded  him,  in  the  name  and  by 
the  autliority  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  to  come  out  and 


288'  OAUT  gurley;  or, 

surrender  RiffiSelf  a  prisoner,  to  answer,  in  court,  to  the  charges 
set  forth  in  a  warrant  then  ready  to  be  produced." 

The  officer  now  paused  ;  and  all  listened ;  but  no  sound  came 
from  the  cave.  The  summons  was  then  repeated,  in  a  still 
louder  and  more  determined  tone  of  voice.  And  this  time  a 
sound,  resembling  the  growl  of  a  chafed  tiger,  was  heard  with- 
in, belching  out  a  volley  of  muttered  curses,  and  ending  with 
the  distinguishable  words  of  defiance : 

"  If  you  want  me,  come  and  take  me  ;  and  w^e  will  see  who 
dies  first." 

"  Your  blood  be  on  your  own  head,  then,  obstinate  wretch  ! " 
exclaimed  the  excited  officer.  "  Men,  prepare  to  throw  a  volley 
of  bullets  into  that  cavern.     Ready  —  aim  —  fire ! " 

The  single  report  of  a  half-dozen  exploding  muskets  instantly 
followed  the  word,  ringing  out  and  reverberating  along  the 
mountain  like  the  shock  of  a  field-piece ;  while,  with  the  dying 
sound,  a  hoarse  shout  of  derisive  laughter  from  the  cave  greeted 
the  ears  of  the  awe-struck  and  shuddering  company  around. 

"  There  is  no  use  in  that,"  said  the  hunter,  who  had  followed 
and  posted  himself  a  little  in  the  rear  of  the  "besieging  party, 
under  the  apprehension  that  the  besieged  might  make  a  rush 
out  of  his  retreat,  in  the  smoke  and  confusion  consequent  on 
the  firing,  —  "  there  is  no  use  in  any  thing  of  that  kind.  The 
entrance,  after  the  first  four  or  five  feet,  suddenly  expands  into 
quite  a  large  space,  into  one  of  the  corners  of  which  he  could 
easily  step,  as  he  doubtless  did  just  now,  and  be  safe  against  a 
regiment  of  rifles  from  v/ithout." 

"Then  we  will  smoke  him  out!"  fiercely  exclaimed  the 
sheriff,  recovering  from  his  astonishment  at  finding  the  culprit 
had  not  been  annihilated,  and  beginning  to  be  enraged  at  seeing 
himself  and  his  authority  thus  alike  despised ;  "  we  will  smoke 
him  out,  like  a  burrowed  wild  beast,  and  soon  convince  the 
scofiing  villain  that  we  are  not  to  be  foiled  in  this  manner. 
Hillo,  there,  below !  gather  and  bring  up  here  at  least  a  cart- 
load of  dry  and  green  boughs." 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  289 

"With  eager  alacrity  the  throng  below  sprang  to  do  the  bid- 
ding of  the  officer ;  and,  in  a  short  time,  they  came  clambering 
up  the  steeps,  with  their  shouldered  loads  of  mingled  material, 
to  the  post  occupied  by  the  advanced  party ;  who  took,  and, 
keeping  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  range  of  the  entrance, 
carried  them  up,  and  threw  them  over  the  next  shelf  on  to  the 
little  level  space  lying  around  the  mouth  of  the  cavern.  This 
process  was  briskly  continued,  till  a  pile  as  large  as  a  haycock 
was  raised  against  the  upright  ledge  through  which  the  cave 
opened  by  a  low  narrow  mouth  at  the  bottom.  A  fire  was  tken 
struck,  a  pine  knot  kindled,  and  held  ready  for  the  intended 
application ;  when  the  sheriff,  proclaiming  to  the  desperate  ob- 
ject of  these  fearful  preparations  what  was  in  store  for  him, 
commanded  him  once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  to  surrender. 
But,  receiving  no  reply,  he  then,  ordering  the  men  to  stand 
ready  with  poles  to  scatter  the  material  the  moment  the  victim 
should  cry  for  mercy,  seized  the  flaming  brand  and  hurled  it 
into  the  most  combustible  part  of  the  pile  before  him. 

Within  the  space  of  a  minute  the  appearance  of  the  quickly- 
catching  blaze,  now  seen  leaping  in  a  thousand  dimly-sparkling 
tongues  of  flame,  from  layer  to  layer  and  from  side  to  side, 
through  the  crevices  of  the  loosely-packed  mass,  gave  proof 
that  the  whole  pile  was  becoming  thoroughly  ignited.  And 
the  next  moment  the  cave,  and  the  whole  visible  range  of  rocks 
above,  were  lost  to  sight  in  the  dense  cloud  of  smoke  that  deeply 
wrapt  and  rolled  over  them.  Expecting  every  instant  to  hear 
the  agonized  cries  of  the  victim,  now  seemingly  enfolded  in  the 
very  embrace  of  the  terrible  element,  calling  aloud  for  mercy 
and  offering  submission,  the  whole  company,  crowding  the 
gorge  below,  or  peering  over  from  the  surrounding  cliffs, 
climbed  for  the  purpose,  stood  for  some  time  mute  and  appalled 
at  the  spectacle,  and  the  thought  of  the  fearful  issue  it  involved. 
No  sound  or  sight,  however,  except  the  crackling  of  the  con- 
suming fagots  and  the  flaring  sheet  of  the  ascending  flames, 
greeted  their  expectant  senses. 
25 


290 

"  Pretty  mucli  as  I  have  long  thought  it  would  turn  out,  in 
the  end,"  said  the  trapper,  the  first  to  break  the  silence,  as  the 
fire  was  seen  to  be  slacking  away,  without  any  thing  yet  being 
heard  from  the  dreacled  inmate  of  the  cave.  "  His  master  is 
taking  him  off  in  a  winding-sheet  of  smoke  and  flame.  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  at  a  clap  of  thunder  or  an  earthquake  to 
wind  up  with." 

"  At  any  rate,"  observed  another  of  the  crowd,  "  he  must  be 
suffocated  by  this  time." 

**Yes,"  responded  a  third,  "dead,  dead  as  a  door-nail;  so, 
there  is  an  end  of  the  incarnate  Beelzebub  that  we  have  known 
by  the  name  of  Gaut  Gurley." 

"  I  am  not  so  clear  about  that,"  now  interposed  the  hunter, 
who  had  stood  intently  watching  the  varying  aspects  of  the 
fire  and  smoke  about  the  cave.  "  I  thought,  myself,  that  this 
operation  must  put  him  on  begging  terms,  if  any  thing  would ; 
and  the  question  is,  whether  it  wouldn't  now,  before  he  found 
himself  in  any  danger  of  smothering.  I  don't  understand  it ;  but 
stay,  —  what  is  that  rising  from  the  top  of  the  rocks,  some  dis- 
tance back  from»  the  front  of  the  den  ?  Mr.  Sheriff,  do  you 
see  it?" 

"See  what,  sir?" 

"  Why,  that  slender  column  of  smoke  rising  gently  out  of  the 
top  of  the  rocks,  directly  over  the  cave,  and  growing  more 
visible  every  moment,  as  the  smoke  from  the  Ere  down  here  in 
front  becomes  light  and  thin  in  the  clear  blaze." 

"I  do  see  what  appears,  here,  to  be  something  of  the  kind 
not  proceeding  directly  from  the  fire,  —  yes,  plainly,  now. 
What  does  it  mean,  Mr.  Phillips  ?  " 

"  It  means  that  the  rascal  has  a  chimney  to  his  house,  or 
what,  for  his  safety,  is  the  same.  The  rocks  forming  the  top 
of  the  cavern  are  piled  up  so  loosely  that  the  smoke  rises 
through  them  almost  as  easy  and  natural  as  from  a  chimney. 
He  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  throw  himself  on  the  bottom,  to  be 
out  of  its  way,  and  breathe  as  good  air  as  the  best  of  us." 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.  291 

"  By  Heavens,  Phillips,  I  believe  you  are  right !  And  that  is 
not  all  there  is  to  it,  either :  if  our  smoking-out  experiment 
has  failed,  it  has  shown  a  better  ..one.  The  same  looseness  of 
the  rocks  that  permitted  the  escape  of  the  smoke  so  freely,  will 
permit,  also,  their  being  removed  or  torn  away.  We  w411  now 
uncage  him  by  digging  down  into  his  den.  Ho  there  !  my 
merry  men  below,  go  to  cutting  heavy  pry-poles,  and  look  up 
your  crow-bars,  picks,  sledge-hammers,  and  shovels.  There  is 
work  for  you  all." 

As  soon  as  the  unexpected  discoveries  which  had  led  to 
thesa  new  orders,  and  consequent  change  of  the  whole  plan  of 
attack,  were  understood  and  fully  comprehended  by  all,  the 
solemn  and  revolting  character  of  the  scene  was  instantly  con- 
verted into  one  of  bustle  and  animation.  As  the  plan  thus  in- 
dicated by  the  sheriff  required  the  scene  of  operations  to  be 
transferred  to  the  top  of  the  rocks  above  the  cave,  to  which 
there  was  no  means  of  access  from  the  gorge  in  front,  he, 
leaving  a  strong  guard  in  the  pass  now  occupied,  took  the 
hunter  and  came  down  to  the  shore  ;  when  the  latter,  followed 
by  the  officer  and  a  score  of  resolute,  strong-armed  men  with 
their  various  implements,  led  the  devious  way  back  through  the 
woods,  and  up  round  the  ledgy  and  precipitous  face  of  the 
mountain,  till  they  reached  a  point  a  little  above  the  level  of 
the  cave.  Here  they  paused,  and  sent  the  hunter  out  along  a 
lateral  shelf  of  the  declivity,  to  search  for  the  most  accessible 
path  to  their  destination.  While  the  company  w^ere  pausing 
here  for  this  purpose,  their  attention  was-  suddenly  arrested  by 
the  heralding  shouts  of  another  company  of  men,  evidently 
approaching  from  the  other  side  of  the  mountain.  And,  soon 
after,  a  band  of  a  dozen  well-armed,  hardy-looking  fellows, 
headed  by  a  tall,  powerfully-framed  man,  made  their  appear- 
ance, pushing  their  way  down  the  brush-tangled  steeps  from 
above. 

"  Turner ! "  exclaimed  the  sheriff,  addressing  the  leader  of 
the  approaching  band,  who  was  at  once  recognized  to  be  an 


292  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

ex-sherifF  of  the  county,  and  one  of  the  most  daring  and  suc- 
cessful felon-hunters  ever  known  in  northern  New-Hampshire ; 
"  General  Turner,  of  all  men  you  are  the  one  I  should  have 
most  wished  to  see,  just  at  this  time.  We  have  a  tough  case 
on  hand ;  but  how  did  you  get  here  ?  " 

"  The  only  way  left  for  us.  When  we  reached  the  tavern 
down  here  on  the  river,  not  a  boat  was  to  be  had  ;  and  so  we 
steered  up  the  Magalloway,  and  came  over  by  land,  as  you  see. 
I  had  heard  of  this  desperate  character,  and  your  dealings  with 
him,  before  the  present  outrage,  and  have  now  come  to  help 
you  put  him  through.  Now  tell  us  the  state  of  the  siege, — some 
idea  of  which  we  got  from  a  man  we  met,  a  mile  back  on  our 
way." 

The  sheriff  then  related  all  that  had  transpired,  and  named 
the  new  plan  of  operations,  of  which  they  were  then  proceed- 
ing to  test  the  feasibility. 

"  We  will  have  him !  "  said  Turner,  with  a  determined  look. 
"  If  we  can't  tear  away  the  rocks  with  bars  and  sledges,  we  will 
send  off  for  «,  barrel  of  gunpowder  to  blow  them  open  ;  and  if 
that  fails,  I  will  go  into  the  cave,  myself,  and  if  I  don't  snake 
him  out  before  I've  done  with  him,  he  must  be  a  harder  cus- 
tomer than  it  has  ever  yet  been  my  lot  to  encounter." 

By  this  time  the  hunter  had  returned,  and  now  pointed  out 
the  best  way  to  the  place  of  which  they  were  in  quest ;  when 
the  sheriff,  ex-sheriff,  and  their  respective  followers,  preceded 
by  their  guide,  commenced  forcing  their  passage  along  the 
craggy  cliffs ;  and,  within  ten  minutes,  they  found  themselves 
standing  on  the  off-set  forming  the  rocky  roofing  of  the  cavern. 
The  appearance  of  the  place  was  much  more  favorable  for  the 
proposed  attempt  at  excavation  than  any  of  them  had  antici- 
pated. From  the  front  face  of  the  rock,  which  was  pierced  by 
the  mouth  of  the  cave  at  the  bottom,  and  which  presented  a 
perpendicular  of  about  fifteen  feet,  the  topmost  stones  rapidly 
fell  off  to  a  depression  over  the  centre  of  the  cave,  which,  it 
was  at  once  seen,  must  greatly  reduce  the  depth  of  rock  to  be 


THE  TRAPPERS.  OP  UMBAQOG.         293 

removed  or  broken  up,  before  reaching  the  interior.  And,  in 
addition  to  this  encouraging  discovery,  the  rocks  in  and  around 
this  depression,  through  which  the  smoke  was  yet  visibly  oozing, 
appeared  to  be  detached  from  the  main  ledge,  and,  though 
heavy,  such  as  might  be  removed  by  appliances  at  command. 
Still,  there  was  a  formidable  mass  to  be  disrupted  and  removed 
before  an  entrance  could  be  effected  in  that  direction.  But  the 
men,  impatient  of  inaction,  and  eager  to  be  doing  something  to 
forward  the  common  object,  —  hke  all  bodies  of  excited  people 
anxious  to  cooperate,  but  unable  to  decide  on  a  course  of  action, 
— scarcely  waited  to  be  told  what  was  wanted,  before  they  all 
sprang  to  the  work  with  that  resistless  union  of  faith  and  ex- 
ertions which  requires  no  intervention  of  miracles  to  remove 
mountains.  The  moss,  earth,  decayed  wood,  and  all  else  of 
the  loose  covering  of  rocks,  quickly  disappeared  under  their 
busy  hands  or  rapidly-plied  implements.  The  smaller  stones 
and  broken  fragments,  as  soon  as  loosened  or  beat  off  by  the 
bars  and  sledges,  were  seized  and  hurled  in  showers  over  the 
surrounding  ledges ;  the  larger  ones,  when  started  from  their 
beds  by  the  long  heavy  prys,  were  grappled  with  the  united 
strength  of  all  that  could  get  to  them,  rolled  up,  pitched  over 
the  precipice  in  front,  and  sent  bounding  and  crashing  down  the 
gorge  below.  And  the  whole  forest  resounded  with  the  din  of 
their  heavy  blows  and  the  mingling  sounds  of  their  varied 
labors. 

While  all  who  could  find  room  to  work  on  the  excavation 
were  thus  briskly  pushing  forward  their  operations,  a  smaller 
party  were  engaged  in  beating  down  the  rocky  battlement  in 
front ;  and  so  vigorously  and  successfully  were  the  efforts  of 
these  also  directed,  that,  in  a  short  time,  the  top  was  so  lowered, 
and  the  seamy  rocks  so  split  down,  that,  with  the  mass  of 
stones  thrown  over,  a  path  of  easy  descent  was  formed  from 
the  top,  down  to  the  shelf  below,  on  one  side  of  the  mouth  of 
the  cave  ;  which  was  now  securely  blocked  up,  and  closely  in- 
25* 


294  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

vested  by  the  party  previously  stationed  in  near  vicinity  to 
guard  it. 

Thus  bravely,  and  with  no  token  of  faltering  at  the  obstacles 
•which  they  frequently  encountered,  and  which  sometimes 
required  their  greatest  exertions  to  overcome,  did  these  strong- 
armed  and  determined  men  push  on  their  herculean  labors,  for 
the  space  of  nearly  two  hours  ;  when  suddenly  a  shout  of  exult- 
ation rose  from  those  at  work  lowest  down  in  the  excavation, 
and  the  next  moment  the  voice  of  the  ex-sheriff  was  heard 
exclaiming  to  those  around  him : 

"  Courage,  men !  the  game  is  nearly  unkenneled.  I  have 
driven  my  bar  through,  and  the  hole  is  so  large  that  the  bar 
has  slipped  from  my  hands  and  gone  to  the  bottom ! " 

The  excitement  now  became  intense ;  and  all  crowded  round 
the  rim  of  the  excavation,  and,  with  uneasy  looks  and  hushed 
voices,  eagerly  peered  down  into  the  dimly-visible  perforation 
at  the  bottom ;  while  those  already  within  the  excavated  basin 
began,  with  beating  hearts,  carefully  loosening  and  pulling  out 
the  shivered  and  detached  stones,  lying  around  the  small  aper- 
ture just  effected,  and  continued  the  process  until  all  the  outer 
edges  of  the  broad,  thin  rock,  which  the  crow-bar  had  perfo- 
rated, and  which  appeared  to  form  the  lower  or  interior  layer 
of  the  roofing  of  the  cavern,  were  fully  laid  bare,  and  brought 
within  the  reach  of  the  outstretched  arms  of  those  bending 
down  fo  grasp  them.  A  dozen  brawny  hands  were  then  seen 
securing  their  gripe  on  one  side  of  the  rock ;  when,  at  the  word 
of  the  sheriff,  a  sudden  pull  was  made  with  a  force  that  raised 
the  whole  mass  nearly  a  foot  from  its  bed. 

"  It  comes  bravely !  "  said  the  sheriff.  "  Now  fix  yourselves 
for  another  pull ;  while  two  or  three  of  you  above  there  come 
forward  with  your  rifles,  and  stand  with  them  levelled  at  the 
hole,  as  we  open  it,  lest  the  desperate  dog  make  a  rush  before 
we  are  prepared.     Now  altogether,  —  there,  now  ! " 

The  effort  was  made,  and  the  sheeted  rock  was  brought  to  a 
perpendicular ;  when  it  was  grappled  by  the  men  with  might 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  295 

and  main,  lifted  clear  from  its  bed,  and  thrust  aside,  letting  the 
sunlight  down  upon  the  bottom  of  the  cave  through  a  chasm 
nearly  large  enough  to  permit  two  men  to  jump  in  abreast. 
There  was  now  a  dead  pause ;  and  all  eyes  were  turned  on  the 
chasm  in  silent  and  trembling  expectation.  But  nothing  ap- 
pearing, the  hunter  and  ex-sheriff  crept  down  prostrate  to  the 
brink  of  the  chasm,  and  worked  their  heads  cautiously  below,  to 
get  a  fuller  view  of  the  interior.  After  looking,  with  slightly 
varied  positions,  about  a  minute,  they  both  rose  and  came  up  on 
the  bank ;  when  the  ex-sheriff,  turning  to  the  hunter,  softly  said : 

"  He  is  there.  I  caught  sight  of  his  legs  standing  in  a  corner 
near  the  mouth  of  the  cave.     Did  you  get  a  view  ?  " 

'•'  Yes,  a  better  one  than  that ;  I  saw  his  legs,  and  as  much  of 
his  body  as  I  could  without  bringing  my  own  head  within  the 
line  of  his  eyes.  He  stands  there  on  the  watch,  with  cocked 
rifle  pointing  to  this  opening,  while  he  has  a  dirk  within  his 
left  hand  grasping  the  rifle,  and  I  think  a  pistol  within  his 
other  hand,  held  in  a  similar  manner.     I  can  read  his  plan." 

"  ^Tiat  is  it,  as  you  read  it  ?  " 

"  To  take  the  first  that  enters  with  his  rifle,  pistol  the  second, 
make  a  rush  through  the  rest,  and  stab  as  he  goes." 

"  About  the  truth,  probably.  But  what  is  to  be  done  ?  Shall 
you  and  I  leap  down,  make  a  spring  upon  him,  and  stand  our 
chance  ?  " 

"  Why,  —  yes,"  replied  the  hunter,  with  a  little  hesitation ; 
"  yes,  if  we  can't  do  better  than  throw  away  one  good  life,  at 
least,  for  a  bad  one.  But  if  we  could  contrive  to  divert  his 
attention  suddenly  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave " 

"  You  are  right !  Stay  here  a  moment,  and  I  will  put  mat- 
ters in  train  to  carry  out  your  suggestion,"  eagerly  interrupted 
Turner,  taking  the  sheriff  confidentially  aside. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  determined  ex-sheriff,  followed  by  four 
or  five  stout,  resolute  men,  whose  special  assistance  he  had 
bespoken  for  the  occasion,  returned  to  the  side  of  the  hunter, 
and  said : 


296  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

"  Get  down  there  in  your  old  position,  where  you  can  watch 
his  movements.  They  have  gone  down  to  unblock  the  mouth 
of  the  cave  outside,  and  make  a  feint  of  entering.  If  they 
succeed  in  drawing  his  fire,  I  will  take  that  as  a  signal,  —  if 
not,  then  you  give  me  the  word,  at  the  right  moment,  when  his 
head,  and  with  it  naturally  his  rifle,  is  turned  to  the  supposed 
fiew  point  of  attack,  and  I  will  leap  down  and  make  a  spring 
to  get  within  the  line  of  the  muzzle  before  he  can  fire ;  and, 
the  instant  I  disappear,  you  and  these  men  follow,  and  be  close 
on  my  heels  for  the  grapple." 

The  hunter  then  edged  down  to  his  former  place  of  observa- 
tion, where  he  lay,  while  Turner  sat  crouching  on  the  brink 
ready  for  the  leap,  narrowly  watching  the  movements  of  the 
dreaded  foe  within,  who  was  seen  to  be  still  standing  motionless 
in  the  same  position  as  before.  Presently  the  movements  of 
those  outside  the  old  entrance  of  the  cavern,  as  they  began 
cautiously  to  remove  the  blockading  stones,  became  clearly 
audible,  and  soon  a  few  straggling  rays  of  light  began  to  gleam 
into  the  interior  from  that  direction.  On  perceiving  these  in- 
dications, the  wary  desperado  began,  for  the  first  time,  to 
exhibit  signs  of  uneasiness.  Slightly  changing  his  position, 
he  glanced  rapidly  from  the  already  half-cleared  entrance  in 
front  to  the  chasm  just  opened  through  the  top  in  the  rear. 
But  neither  seeing  or  hearing  any  thing  that  led  him  to  expect 
any  assault,  except  from  the  front,  and  evidently  supposing  it 
was  now  the  intention  of  his  assailants  to  ,drive  him  up  through 
the  top  opening,  to  be  seized  as  he  came  out,  he  drew  back  a 
step,  and,  turning  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle  towards  the  mouth  of 
the  cave,  stood  ready  to  fire  upon  the  first  who  should  make 
his  appearance.  This  movement  was  not  lost  on  the  keenly- 
watching  hunter,  who  saw  that  it  afforded  a  fair  chance  for  a 
successful  surprise  ;  and  he  once  parted  his  hps  to  give  the 
signal  for  the  onset.  But,  perceiving  from  the  incoming  light 
that  the  mouth  of  the  cave  was  cleared  from  its  obstructions, 
he  ventured  to  await  the  effect  of  the  feint  now  momentarily 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMRAGOG.  297 

expected  from  that  quarter.  He  had  judged  wisely.  The 
dehiy  was  not  in  vain.  A  rustling  sound,  seeming  to  come 
from  some  one  squeezing  through  the  entrance,  was  now  heard; 
and  soon  a  dark  object,  resembling  the  head  and  shoulders  of 
a  man,  making  slow  and  cautious  advances,  was  fully  pro- 
truded into  the  cavern ;  when,  suddenly,  the  whole  ledge  shook 
with  the  stunning  report  of  a  rifle,  and  the  next  moment, 
Turner,  Phillips,  and  their  chosen  backers,  had  all  disappeared 
in  the  cloud  of  smoke  that  came  pouring  up  through  the  chasm. 
Quick,  heavy,  muffled  sounds,  as  of  fiercely-grappling  tigers, 
instantly  came  from  within.  And  within  another  minute,  the 
stentorian  voice  of  the  daring  leader  of  the  onset  was  heard, 
shouting  for  the  hand-cuffs  and  fetters. 

The  fierce  siege  was  over.  The  desperate  intentions  and 
giant  strength  of  the  besieged,  after  a  brief  but  terrible  strug- 
gle, had  been  thwarted  and  overcome  by  the  intrepidity  and 
equal  strength  of  the  ex-sheriff;  and  he,  now  firmly  clenched 
round  the  body,  and  held  down,  with  every  limb  in  the  vise- 
like grasp  of  his  iron-fisted  captors,  lay  di^rmed,  helpless,  and 
panting  on  the  ground. 

"  There ! "  sternly  cried  the  victorious  leader  of  the  hazard- 
ous assault,  as  he  rose  to  his  feet,  after  he  had  seen  the  heavy 
irons  securely  locked  on  the  wrists  and  ankles  of  the  silent  and 
sullen  prisoner,  —  "  there  !  drag  him  out,  feet  foremost,  into  the 
open  light  of  day,  where  he  and  his  dark  deeds  have  all  now 
got  to  come,  to  meet  the  vengeance  of  an  outraged  commu- 
nity ! " 

It  was  done,  and  with  no  gentle  hand ;  when  a  long,  wild 
shout  of  exultation  fiercely  broke  from  the  closely-encircling 
throng,  thrilling  the  trembling  forest  around  with  the  din,  and 
rolling  away  to  the  farthest  shores  of  the  lake,  to  proclaim 
that  the  first  murderer  of  the  settlement  —  the  black-hearted 
Gaut  Gurley  —  was  now  a  prisoner,  and  in  the  uncompromis- 
ing hands  of  public  justice. 

The  animated  spectacle  which  now  ensued,  of  trundling, 


298  QAUT?  aU^IJEY*. 

pushing,  and  tumbling  the  chafed  and  growling  prisoner  down 
to  the  shore,  amid  the  unrestrained  demonstrations  of  the  ex- 
ulting multitude ;  the  noisy  and  bustling  embarkation  on  the 
lake ;  the  ostentatious  display  of  mimic  banners,  formed  by  rais- 
ing on  tall  poles,  handkerchiefs,  hats,  coats,  and  whatever  would 
make  a  show  in  the  distance,  as  the  long  line  of  canoes,  with 
the  closely  guarded  prisoner  in  the  centre,  filed  off  in  gorgeous 
array,  through  the  glitter  of  the  sun-lit  lake,  on  their  way  to 
the  great  outlet ;  the  pause  and  concentration  there ;  the 
rapid  descent  down  the  river  to  the  village,  where  a  board  of 
magistrates  were  waiting  to  sit  on  the.  case  of  the  expected 
prisoner ;  and,  finally,  the  loudly  heralding  kuk-hik-ke-o-hos  of 
the  overflowing  trapper,  to  announce,  over  a  two-mile  reach  of 
the  stream,  the  triumphant  approach,  —  this  animated  and  here 
extraordinary  spectacle,  we  must  leave  to  the  delineation  of  the 
reader's  imagination.  Our  attention  is  more  strongly  demanded 
in  a  different  direction,  to  bring  up  other  important  incidents  of 
our  story,  before  proceeding  any  farther  with  the  actors  who 
have  figured  in  this  part  of  the  narrative,  or  taking  note  of  the 
examination  to  which  they  were  now  hurrying  the  prisoner. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

^*  By  thine  infinite  of  woe. 
All  we  know  not,  all  we  know ; 
If  there  be  what  dieth  not, 
I'hine,  affection,  is  its  lot" 

Deep  in  the  wilderness  of  woods  and  waters  encircling  the 
mouth  of  a  small  inlet,  at  the  extreme  northwestern  end  of  the 
picturesque  Maguntic,  there  lay  encamped,  at  the  point  of  a 
low  headland,  on  one  of  the  first  nights  of  May,  the  three  trap- 
pers, whose  expedition  had  been  the  subject  of  so  many  gloomy 
speculations,  and  whose  unexpectedly  prolonged  absence  had 
caused,  as  we  have  seen,  so  much  anxiety  in  the  settlement  to 
which  they  belonged.  They  had  extended  their  outward  jour- 
ney more  than  double  the  distance  contemplated  by  the  Elwoods, 
at  least  when  they  left  home  ;  the  mover  of  the  expedition,  Gaut 
Gurley,  having  proposed  to  make  the  shores  of  the  Maguntic, 
and  its  feeding  streams  only,  the  range  of  th'eir  operations. 
But  when  they  arrived  there,  as  they  did,  on  the  ice,  which  was 
still  firm  and  solid  on  the  lakes,  Gaut  pretended  to  believe  that 
the  rich  beaver-haunts,  to  which  he  had  promised  to  lead  them, 
could  not  be  identified,  much  less  reached,  until  the  ice  had  broken 
up  in  the  streams  and  lake.  He,  therefore,  now  proposed  that 
they  should  first  proceed  over  to  the  chief  inlet  of  the  Oquossak, 
stay  one  night  in  the  camp,  which  was  left  in  the  gi'eat  snow- 
storm of  the  fall  before,  dig  out  the  steel-traps  buried  there, 
and,  the  next  day,  slide  over  the  boats,  also  left  there,  on  the 
glare  ice,  —  as  all  agreed  could  easily  be  done  on  some  light  and 
simple  contrivance,  —  and  land  them  on  the  west  shore  of  the 
Maguntic,  where  they  could  be  concealed,  and  found  ready  for 

(299) 


300  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

use  when  the  lake  opened.  He  would  then,  he  said,  lead  them 
to  a  place  among  the  head-water  streams  of  the  Magalloway, 
only  a  day's  journey  distant,  where  he  once  "  trapped  it "  him- 
self, and  where,  as  the  rivers  there  broke  up  early,  he  could 
promise  them  immediate  success. 

All  this  had  been  done  ;  and  the  party,  having  spent  nearly 
three  weeks  among  the  lakelets  and  interweaving  streams  going 
to  make  up  the  sources  of  the  Magalloway  and  Connecticut 
rivers,  with  occasional  recourse  to  the  nearest  habitations  on  the 
upper  Magalloway,  for  provisions,  but  with  very  indifferent 
success  in  taking  furs,  had  now,  on  the  urging  of  young  Elwood» 
returned  to  the  Maguntic, — which,  after  a  hard  day's  journey, 
they  had  reached,  at  the  point  where  we  have  introduced  them, 
about  sunset  the  day  but  one  preceding,  thrown  up  a  temporary 
shanty,  and  encamped  for  the  night.  On  rising  the  next  morn- 
ing, Gaut  had  proposed  that  Claud  remain  at  camp  that  day, 
to  build  a  better  shanty,  and  hunt  in  the  near  vicinity ;  while 
he  and  Mark  Elwood  should  explore  the  stream,  to  a  pond 
some  miles  above,  where  his  pre\'iously  discovered  beaver- 
haunts,  he  said,  were  mostly  to  be  found,  and  where,  the  snow 
and  ice  having  wholly  disappeared,  they  could  now  operate  to 
good  advantage.  With  this  arrangement,  however,  the  young 
man,  whose  secret  suspicions  had  been  aroused  by  one  or  two 
previous  attempts  made  by  Gaut  to  separate  him  from  his 
father,  plausibly  refused  to  comply ;  and  the  consequence  was, 
that  they  had  all  made  the  proposed  explorations  together,  re- 
turned to  camp  without  discovering  any  indications  of  the  prom- 
ised beaver,  and  laid  down  for  the  night,  with  the  understand- 
ing, reluctantly  agreed  to  by  the  moody  and  morose  Gaut,  that 
they  should  proceed  down  the  lake  to  their  boats  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  embark  for  an  immediate  return  to  their  homes,  where 
the  Elwoods  felt  conscious  they  must,  by  tliis  time,  be  anxiously 
expected. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  under  which  we  have  brought 
this  singularly-assorted  party  of  trappers  to  the  notice  of  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP   UMBAGOG.  SQl 

reader,  as  they  lay  sleeping  in  their  bough-constnicted  tents, — 
Gaiit  and  Mark  Elwood  under  one  cover,  and  Claud  under 
another,  which  he  had  fixed  up  for  himself  on  the  opposite 
side  of  their  fire, — on  the  ominous  night  which  was  destined 
to  prelude  the  most  tragic  and  melancholy  scene  of  our  vari- 
ously eventful  story. 

It  was  the  hour  of  nature's  deepest  repose,  and  the  bright 
niidnight  moon,  stealing  through  the  gently-swaying  boughs 
of  the  dark  pines  that  rose  heavenward,  like  pinnacles,  along 
the  silent  shores  around,  was  throwing  her  broken  beams  fit- 
fully down  upon  the  faces  of  the  unconscious  sleepers,  faintly 
revealing  the  impress  which  the  thoughts  and  purposes  of  the 
last  waking  hours  had  left  on  the  countenance  of  each.  And 
these  impresses  were  as  variant  as  the  characters  of  those  on 
whose  features  they  rested :  that  lingering  on  the  sternly-com- 
pressed lips  and  dark,  beetling  brows  of  Gaut  Gurley,  ever  sinis- 
ter, was  doubly  so  now  ;  that  on  the  face  of  Mark  Elwood,  whose 
vacillations  of  thought  and  feeling,  through  life,  had  exempted 
his  features  from  any  stamp  betokening  fixed  peculiarity  of  char- 
acter, was  one  of  fatuous  security ;  and  that  resting  on  the 
intellectual  and  guileless  face  of  Claud  Elwood  was  one  of 
simple  care  and  inquietude. 

But  what  is  that  light,  shadowy  form,  hovering  near  the 
sylvan  couch  of  Claud,  like  some  unsubstantial  being  of  the 
air ;  now  advancing,  now  shrinking  away,  and  now  again  flitting 
forward  to  the  head  of  the  youthful  sleeper,  and  there  pausing 
and  preventing  the  light  from  longer  revealing  his  features  ? 
Yes,  what  is  it  ?  would  ask  a  doubting  spectator  of  this  singu- 
lar night-scene.  A  passing  cloud  come  over  the  moon  ?  No, 
there  is  none  in  the  heavens.  But  why  the  useless  speculation? 
for  it  is  gone  now,  leaving  the  sleeper's  face  again  visible,  and 
wearing  a  more  unquiet  and  disturbed  air  than  before.  His 
features  twitch  nervously,  and  expressions  of  terror  and  sur- 
prise flit  over  them.  lie  dreams,  and  his  dream  is  a  troubled 
one  .  Let  the  novelist's  license  be  invoked  to  interpret  it. 
26 


302  GAUT  gurley;  or, 

He  was  alone  with  his  father  on  a  boundless  plain,  when 
suddenly  a  dark,  whirlwind  tempest-cloud  fell  upon  the  earth 
around  them,  and  soon  separated  him  from  the  object  of  his 
care.  As  he  was  anxiously  pressing  on  through  the  thickly- 
enveloping  vapors,  in  the  direction  in  which  the  latter  had  dis-. 
appeared,  he  was  suddenly  confronted  by  a  monstrous,  black, 
and  fearful  living  apparition,  who  stood  before  him  in  all  the 
horrid  paraphernalia  ascribed  to  the  prince  of  darkness,  appa- 
rently ready  to  crush  him  to  the  earth,  when  a  bright  angel 
form  swiftly  interposed.  Starting  back,  with  the  rapidly-chas- 
ing sensations  of  terror  and  sur23rise,  he  looked  again,  and  the 
fiend  stood  stript  of  his  infernal  guise,  and  suddenly  transformed 
into  the  person  of  Gaut  Gurley,  who,  with  a  howl  of  dismay, 
quickly  turned  and  fled  in  confusion.  The  amazed  dreamer 
then  turned  to  his  deliverer,  who  had  been  transformed  into  the 
beauteous  Fluella,  whose  image,  he  was  conscious,  was  no 
longer  a  stranger  among  the  lurking  inmates  of  his  heart.  A 
sweet,  benignant  smile  was  breaking  over  her  lovely  features ; 
and,  under  the  sudden  impulse  of  the  grateful  surprise,  he 
eagerly  stretched  out  his  arms  towards  her,  and,  in  the  effort, 
awoke. 

"  Where,  where  is  she  ?  "  he  exclaiyied,  springing  to  his  feet, 
and  glaring  wildly  around  him.  "  Why ! "  he  continued,  after 
a  pause,  in  which  he  appeared  to  be  rallying  his  bewildered 
senses,  —  "  why !  what  is  this  ?  a  dream,  nothing  but  a  dream  ? 
It  must  be  so.  But  what  a  strange  one  !  and  what  could  have 
caused  it?  Was  there  not  some  one  standing  over  me,  just 
now,  darkening  my  face  like  a  shadow  ?  I  feel  a  dim  con- 
sciousness of  something  like  it.  But  that,  probably,  was  part 
of  the  same  dream.  Yes,  yes,  all  a  mere  dream ;  all  noth- 
ing ;  so,  begone  with  you,  miserable  phantoms !  I  will  not 
suffer " 

But,  as  if  not  satisfied  with  his  own  reasoning,  he  stopped  short, 
and,  for  many  minutes,  stood  motionless,  with  his  head  dropped 
in  deep  thought ;  when,  arousing  himself,  he  returned  to  his 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  303 

rude  resting-place,  and  laid  down  again,  but  only  to  toss  and 
turn,  in  the  restless  excitement  which  he  obviously  found  him- 
self unable  to  allay*  After  a  while  spent  in  this  tantalizing 
unrest,  he  rose  and  slowly  made  his  way  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  lake,  a  few  rods  distant,  where,  scooping  up  water  with  his 
hands,  he  first  drank  eagerly,  then  bathed  his  fevered  brow, 
and  then,  rising,  he  stood  some  time  silent  on  the  shore,— 
now  pensively  gazing  out  on  the  darkly-bright  expanse  of  the 
moon-lit  lake  ;  and  now  listening  to  the  mysterious  voices  of 
night  in  the  wilderness,  which,  in  low,  soft,  whispering  undula- 
tions of  sound,  came,  at  varied  intervals,  gently  murmuring 
along  the  wooded  shores,  to  die  away  into  silence  in  the  remote 
recesses  of  the  forest.  These  phenomena  of  the  wilds  he  had 
once  or  twice  before  noted,  and  tried  to  account  for,  without, 
however,  attaching  much  consequence  to  them.  But  now  they 
became  invested  with  a  strange  significance,  and  seemed  to 
him,  in  his  present  excited  and  apprehensive  state  of  mind,  por- 
tentous of  impending  evil.  While  his  thoughts  were  taking 
this  channel,  the  possibility  of  what  might  be  done  in  his  ab- 
sence suddenly  appeared  to  occur  to  him  ;  and  he  hastened 
back  to  camp,  where  he  slightly  replenished  the  fire,  and,  taking 
a  recumbent  position,  with  his  loaded  rifle  within  reach,  kept 
awake,  and  on  the  watch,  till  morning. 

After  daylight  Claud  arose,  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  oc- 
curred to  disturb  him,  bustled  about,  built  a  good  fire,  and  be- 
gan to  prepare  a  morning  meal  from  the  fine  string  of  trout  he 
had  taken  during  yesterday's  excursion.  The  noise  of  these 
preparations  soon  awoke  the  two  sleepers ;  who,  complimenting 
him  on  his  early  rising,  also  arose,  and  soon  joined  him  in  par- 
taking the  repast,  which,  by  this  time,  he  had  in  readiness. 

As  soon  as  they  had  finished  their  meal,  which  was  enliv- 
ened by  no  other  than  an  occasional  brief,  commonplace 
remark,  the  thoughts  of  each  of  them  being  evidently  en- 
grossed by  his  own  peculiar  schemes  and  anxieties,  the  trappers, 
by  common  consent,  set  about  their  preparations  to  depart ; 


304  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

and,  having  completed  them,  leisurely  took  their  way  down 
the  western  shore  of  the  lake  towards  the  spot  at  which  they 
had  hauled  up  and  concealed  their  canoe,  and  which,  if  they 
followed  the  deep  indentures  of  the  shore  in  this  part  of  the 
lake,  must  be  four  or  five  miles  distant. 

For  the  first  mile  or  two  of  their  progress  nothing  noticea- 
ble to  an  indifferent  observer  occurred  to  vary  the  monotony  of 
their  walk,  as  they  tramped  steadily  and  silently  forward,  in 
the  usual,  and,  indeed,  almost  the  only  practicable  mode  of  trav- 
elling in  the  forest,  appropriately  denominated  Indian  file.  But 
young  Elwood,  whose  feelings  had  been  deeply  stirred  by  the 
fancies  of  the  night,  which,  to  say  the  least,  had  the  effect  to 
make  him  more  keenly  apprehensive  and  vigilant,  had  noted 
several  little  circumstances,  that,  to  him,  wore  a  questionable 
appearance.  Gaut,  who  at  first  led  the  way,  soon  mancBU- 
vred  to  get  Mark  Elwood,  the  next  in  the  order  of  their 
march,  in  front ;  and  then  urged  him  forward  at  a  much  faster 
pace  than  before,  at  the  same  time  often  casting  furtive  glances 
behind  him,  as  if  to  see  whether  Claud,  who  seemed  in- 
clined to  walk  more  slowly  than  the  rest,  would  not  fall  be- 
hind, and  soon  be  out  of  sight.  And,  when  the  latter  quick- 
ened his  pace,  he  showed  signs  of  vexation,  which  had  not 
passed  unnoticed.  All  this  Claud  had  noted,  together  with  the 
singular  expression  which  Gaut's  countenance  assumed,  and 
which  filled  him  with  an  undefinable  dread,  and  a  lively  suspicion 
that  the  man  was  on  the  eve  of  attempting  the  execution  of 
foul  purposes.  Consequently  he  resolved  to  follow  up  closely, 
having  no  fears  for  himself,  and  believing  his  presence  would 
prevent  any  attempt  that  might  be  meditated  against  his  father. 
This  precaution,  for  some  time,  the  young  man  was  careful  to 
observe ;  but,  as  he  was  passing  over  a  small  brook  that 
crossed  his  path,  his  eye  caught  the  appearance  of  a  slight  trail, 
a  few  rods  up  the  stream,  and  curiosity  prompted  him  to  turn 
aside  to  examine  it.  When  he  reached  the  place,  he  soon  de- 
tected indications  which  convinced  him  that  some  person  had 


THE  TRAPPERS  OF  UMBAGOG.         305 

recently  been  there ;  and,  forgetful  of  his  resolution,  in  the  in- 
terest the  circumstance  excited,  he  commenced  a  closer  inspec- 
tion, which  resulted  in  discovering  a  fresh  imprint,  in  the  soft 
mud  on  one  side  of  the  brook,  of  a  small  moccasined  foot.  This 
curious  and  unexpected  discovery,  uncertain  as  were  its  in- 
dications of  any  identity  of  the  person,  or  even  of  the  age  or 
sex  of  the  person,  by  whom  that  delicate  footprint  was  made, 
at  once  diverted  his  attention  from  the  particular  care  by  which 
it  had  been  engrossed,  and  started  that  other  of  the  two  trains 
of  thought,  which,  for  the  last  month,  but  especially  since  his 
singular  awakening  the  past  night,  had  constituted  the  chief  bur- 
den of  his  mind, — his  increasing  apprehensions  for  his  father's 
safety,  and  his  lurking  but  irrepressible  regard  for  the  chief's 
beautiful  daughter,  whose  image,  since  his  dream,  had  haunted 
him  with  a  pertinacity  for  which  a  resort  to  reason  alone  would 
fail  to  account. 

"  If  music  be  the  food  of  love," 

dreams,  we  apprehend,  whatever  the  immortal  bard  might 
have  thought  of  the  matter,  have  often  proved  the  more  excit- 
ing stimulus  of  the  tender  passion  ;  many  of  whose  happiest 
consummations  might  be  traced  back  to  an  origin  in  some  peo- 
pled scene  of  a  dreaming  fancy,  whose  peculiar  effect  on  the 
sympathies  has  frequently  been  felt  by  the  sternest  and  most 
sceptical,  though  never  very  clearly  explained  in  any  of  our 
written  systems  of  the  philosophy  of  the  soul  and  its  affec- 
tions. 

In  the  pleasing  indulgence  of  the  feelings  and  fancies  which 
had  been  thus  freshly  kindled,  Claud  stood,  for  some  minutes, 
quite  unconscious  of  the  lapse  of  time,  though  it  had  been  long 
enough  to  place  his  companions  far  out  of  sight  and  hearing. 
From  this  reverie  he  was  suddenly  aroused  by  the  sharp  report 
of  a  rifle,  bursting  on  his  ear  from  the  woods,  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  off,  in  the  direction  just  taken  by  his  companions. 
Starting  at  the  sound,  which  sent  a  boding  chill  through  his 
26=* 


306  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

heart,  and  bitterly  taxing  himself  for  his  inadvertent  loitering, 
he  sprang  back  to  the  trail  he  had  left,  and  made  his  way  along 
over  it  towards  the  place  indicated  by  the  firing,  with  all  the 
speed  which  excited  nerves  and  agonizing  anxiety  could  bring 
to  his  aid.  But,  before  reaching  the  spot  at  which  he  was 
aiming,  and  just  as  he  was  beginning  to  slacken  his  pace,  to  look 
around  for  it,  Gaut  Gurley  burst  through  the  bushes,  a  few  rods 
ahead,  and,  running  towards  him  with  all  the  manifestations  of 
a  man  in  hasty  retreat  before  a  pursuing  foe,  eagerly  ex- 
claimed : 

"  Run,  Claud !  run  for  your  life !  We  have  just  been  beset 
by  hostile  Indians,  who  fired  on  us,  and,  I  fear,  have  killed  your 
father.  I  have  misled  them  a  little ;  but  they  will  soon  be  on 
our  trail.  E-un  !  run  ! "  he  added,  seizing  the  other  by  the  arm 
to  start  him  into  instant  flight. 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  the  astonished  young  man,  hanging 
back,  and  by  degrees  recovering  from  the  surprise  with  which 
he  was  at  first  overwhelmed  by  the  strange  and  startling  an- 
nouncement. "  What !  hostile  Indians  ?  —  hostile  to  whom, 
to  my  father,  or  to  me,  that  I  should  run  from  them  ?  Gaut 
Gurley,  what,  O  what  does  this  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  it  means,"  said  the  other,  keeping  up  all  the  motions 
and  flourishes  naturally  used  by  one  urging  another  to  flee,  — 
"  it  means,  as  I  say,  our  lives  are  in  danger.  Let  us  escape 
while  we  can.      Come,  come,  there's  not  a  moment  to  lose  ! " 

"  I  will  hnoiv,^^  said  Claud,  with  a  quick,  searching  glance 
at  the  face  of  the  other,  —  "  yes,  I  will  know  for  myself  what 
has  happened,"  he  sternly  added,  suddenly  breaking  from  the 
gi-asp  on  his  arm,  and  bounding  forward  to  execute  his  pur- 
pose with  a  quickness  and  rapidity  that  made  pursuit  useless. 

"  Hold !  "  cried  Gaut,  in  an  increasingly  fierce  and  angry 
tone,  "  hold,  instantly,  —  on  your  life,  hold  !  I  warn  you,  sir,  to 
stop,  instantly  to  stop  ! " 

But,  heeding  neither  the  entreaties  nor  the  threats  which, 
his  ear  told  him,  were  strangely  mingled  in  the  tones  of  the' 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  307 

words  thus  thundered  after  him,  Claud,  In  his  agony  of  appre- 
hension, eagerly  rushed  on  towards  the  forbidden  scene,  Avhich 
could  not  now  be  thirty  rods  distant,  and  had  proceeded,  per- 
haps, forty  yards  ;  when,  just  as  he  was  straightening  up,  after 
stooping  to  pass  under  an  obstructing  limb  of  a  tree,  extending 
across  his  path,  he  became  conscious  of  the  sound  of  the  sudden 
hitting  of  the  limb,  and  partly  so  of  the  concussion  of  a  shot,  still 
farther  in  his  rear.  But  he  neither  heard  nor  knew  more ; 
and,  the  next  moment,  lay  stretched  senseless  on  the  ground. 

When  he  awoke  to  consciousness,  after,  he  knew  not  what 
lapse  of  time,  he  found  himself  in  a  different  place  ;  lying,  as 
he  felt  conscious,  badly  wounded,  on  a  soft,  elastic  bed  of 
boughs,  within  a  dense  thicket  of  low  evergreens,  through 
which  his  opening  eye  caught  the  gleams  of  widely-surround- 
ing waters.  A  ministering  angel,  in  the  shape  of  the  peerless 
daughter  of  the  wilds,  who  had  lately  so  much  occupied  his 
thoughts,  was  wistfully  bending  over  him,  with  a  countenance 
in  which  commiseration  and  woe  had  found  an  impersonation 
which  no  artist's  pencil  could  have  equalled. 

"  Fluella ! "  he  feebly  murmured,  —  "  how  came  you  here, 
Fluella?" 

She  saw  that  the  effort  to  speak  caused  him  a  pang,  and, 
without  replying  to  the  question,  motioned  him  to  silence; 
when,  being  no  longer  able  to  master  her  emotions,  she  sat 
down  by  his  side,  and,  covering  her  face  with  both  hands,  be- 
gan to  grieve  and  sob  like  a  child.  Poor  girl!  who  could 
measure  the  depth  of  her  heart's  anguish?  She  could  not  an- 
swer, had  she  deemed  it  best.  We  must  answer  the  question 
for  her.  But,  to  do  so,  to  the  full  understanding  of  the  reader, 
we  must  again  recur  to  the  events  of  the  past,  —  her  troubled 
past,  at  least,  —  during  the  three  or  four  days  preceding  the 
time  of  her  appearance  as  an  actor  in  the  sad  scene  before  us. 

She  had  learned  from  Mrs.  Elwood  that  Claud  had  pledged 
himself  to  her  that  he  would  return  from  his  expedition  within 
the  month  of  April ;  and  to  Fluella,  with  her  undoubting  con- 


308  GAUT  gurley;  or, 

fidence  in  his  word,  a  failure  to  redeem  that  pledge  would  be 
but  little  less  than  certain  intelligence  that  some  evil  had  befal- 
len either  him  or  his  father,  in  their  unknown  place  of  sojourn 
in  the  wilderness.  Consequently  her  solicitude — growing  out 
of  her  secretly  nourished  but  overmastering  love  for  him  — 
became,  as  the  time  approached  which  was  to  relieve  or  realize 
her  fears  for  the  result  of  an  expedition  undertaken  under  such 
dreadful  auspices,  each  day  more  deep  and  absorbing.  And, 
the  last  morning  but  one  of  the  expiring  month,  she  went  out 
early  on  to  the  rock-bound  shore  of  the  lake,  on  which  her 
father's  cabin  was  situated,  and  commenced  her  watch  from  the 
most  commanding  points,  for  the  appearance  of  the  expected 
party,  on  their  way  homeward  from  the  upper  lakes.  And 
during  that  anxious  day,  and  the  still  more  anxious  one  that 
followed,  she  kept  up  her  vigils,  with  no  other  cessation  than 
what  her  brief  absences  for  her  hastily-snatched  meals  at  the 
house  required ;  sometimes  standing,  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  in 
one  spot,  intently  gazing  out  into  the  lake,  and  sometimes  mov- 
ing restlessly  about,  and  hurrying  from  cliff  to  cliff,  along  the 
beetling  shore,  to  obtain  a  better  observation.  But,  no  appear- 
ance or  indications  of  their  coming  rewarding  her  vigils 
during  all  that  time,  she  retired  from  the  shore,  at  the  approach 
of  night,  on  the  last  day  of  April,  sad  and  sick  at  heart  from 
disappointment,  and  painfully  oppressed  with  apprehension  for 
the  fate  of  one  for  whose  safety  she  felt  she  would  have  given 
her  own  worthless  life  as  a  willing  sacrifice.  But,  her  feelings 
still  allowing  her  neither  peace  nor  quietude,  she  left  the  house 
after  supper ;  and,  in  the  light  of  the  nearly  full  moon,  that  was 
now  throwing  its  mellow  beams  over  the  wild  landscape,  un- 
consciously took  her  way  to  the  lake-shore,  where  she  had 
already  spent  so  many  weary  hours  in  her  fruitless  vigils. 
Here,  climbing  a  tall  rock  on  the  bluff  shore,  she  resumed  her 
watch,  and  long  stood,  straining  both  eye  and  ear  to  catch  sight 
of  some  moving  thing,  or  the  sound  of  some  plashing  oar,  out 
on  the  lake,  that  might  indicate  the  coming,  even  at  this  late 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  309 

hour,  of  the  objects  of  her  solicitude.  But  no  such  sight  or 
sound  came  up  from  the  sleeping  waters,  to  greet  and  gladden 
her  aching  senses.  All  there  was  as  motionless  and  silent  as 
the  plains  of  the  dead. 

"  The  tune  is  past ! "  she  at  length  despairingly  muttered, 
slowly  withdrawing  her  gaze,  and  standing  as  if  to  collect  her 
thoughts  and  ponder.  "  Yes,  passed  by,  now.  He  will  not 
come  ! "  I 

And  her  ideas  immediately  reverted  to  the  other  alternative 
for  which  she  had  before  made  up  her  mind,  in  case  the  party 
did  not  return  within  the  month ;  but  which,  having  been  kept 
in  the  background  of  her  thoughts,  by  her  hope  of  their  com- 
ing, now  occurred  to  her  with  startling  effect.  She  fancied  Claud 
the  victim  of  outrage  or  misfortune,  —  perhaps  wounded  and 
dying,  by  the  same  hand  that  might  have  previously  struck 
down  his  father,  —  perhaps  taken  sick  on  his  way  home  alone, 
and  now  lying  helpless  in  the  woods,  where  none  could  witness 
his  sufferings  or  hear  his  cries  for  assistance.  The  thought 
sent  a  pang  through  her  bosom,  the  more  painful  because,  being 
something  like  a  legitimate  conclusion  of  her  previous  reason- 
ing, she  could  not  divest  herself  of  it.  She  stood  bewildered 
in  the  woes  of  her  thick-coming  fancies.  The  images  thus  con- 
jured up  from  her  distracting  anxieties  and  excited  brain,  all 
heightened  by  the  natural  inspirations  of  the  place  and  the 
hour,  soon  became  to  her  vivid  realities.  And  her  burning 
thoughts  at  once  insensibly  ran  into  the  form  and  spirit  of  one 
of  the  many  beautful  plaints  of  England's  gifted  poetess : 

"  I  heard  a  song  upon  the  wandering  wind, 
A  song  of  many  tones,  though  one  full  soul 
Breathed  through  them  all  imploringly ;  and  made 
All  nature,  as  they  pass'd,  —  all  quivering  leaves, 
And  low  responsive  reeds  and  waters,  —  thrill, 
As  with  the  consciousness  of  human  prayer. 

the  tones 

Were  of  a  suppliant.     'Leave  me  not'  was  still 
The  burden  of  their  music." 


310  QAl[T  aUBLET;    OR, 

"  I  will  not  leave  you  ! "  she  exclaimed,  startling  the  silent 
glens  and  grottos  around  by  the  wild  energy  of  her  tones,  and 
eagerly  stretching  out  her  hands  towards  the  imagined  scene, 
and  the  suppliant  for  her  ministering  services.  "  O  Claud,  I 
will  come  to  you.  My  love,  my  life,  my  more  than  life,  I 
will  soon  be  with  you !  Go  after  him  ?  "  she  resumed,  after  a 
sudden  pause,  to  which  she  seemed  to  be  brought  by  recalling 
her  thoughts  to  their  wonted  channel,  and  being  startled  at  the 
sober  import  of  her  own  words.  "  Go  in  search  of  him  in  the 
woods !  Yes,"  she  added,  after  another  long  and  thoughtful 
pause,  — "  yes,  why  not  ?  I  cannot,  O,  I  cannot  stay  here 
another  day,  with  these  but  too  prophetic  words,  I  fear,  ring- 
ing in  my  ears.  To  be  in  the  same  wilderness  with  him  were 
a  pleasure,  to  the  insupportable  suspense  I  must  suffer  here. 
If  I  discover  all  to  be  well,  I  need  not  show  myself;  but,  if  it 
be  as  I  fear,  O,  what  happiness  to  be  near  him  !  Yes,  it  is  de- 
cided ;  I  will  start  in  the  morning." 

And,  hastily  descending  from  her  stand,  with  the  firm, 
quick  step  and  decisive  air  of  one  whose  purpose  is  fixed,  she 
struck  off  directly  for  the  house ;  where,  after  a  few  hasty 
preparations,  she  retired  to  her  bed,  and,  happily,  after  the  ex- 
hausting cares  of  the  day,  was  soon  quieted  into  sound  and  re- 
freshing slumber. 

In  accordance  with  her  still  unaltered  resolution,  she  rose 
early  the  next  morning ;  and  with  an  indefinite  intimation  to 
her  family  of  her  intention  to  be  absent  among  friends  a  day  or 
two,  swung  to  her  side  a  small  square  basket  of  nutritious  pro- 
vifiions,  took  a  thick  shawl  to  protect  her  from  the  damps  of  the 
night,  proceeded  directly  to  her  canoe  at  the  landing,  em- 
barked, and  struck  out  vigorously  along  the  winding  shore,  on 
her  way  to  the  next  upper  lake.  A  steady  but  quiet  row  of  a 
couple  of  hours  took  her  out  of  the  great  lake  on  which  she 
had  embarked,  up  the  principal  inlet,  and  into  the  Maguntic, 
whose  western  shores,  she  had  understood,  were  to  be  the  base 
of  the  operations  of  the  absent  party.     Here  she  turned   short 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  311 

to  the  left,  and,  drawing  in  close  to  land,  rowed  slowly  and 
cautiously  along  the  western  shore,  following  round  all  the  nu- 
merous indentations,  and  continually  sending  her  searching 
glances  up  its  wooded  shores,  that  no  appearance  of  the  trail 
of  human  beings  might  escape  her  observation. 

After  rowing  two  or  three  miles  in  this  manner,  and  without 
noticing  any  thing  that  particularly  attracted  her  attention,  she 
reached  the  first  of  the  three  headlands,  making  out  from  this 
side  a  considerable  distance  into  the  lake,  beyond  the  average 
line  of  the  shore.  As  she  was  rounding  this  point,  her  eye  fell 
on  a  dark  protuberance,  in  a  dense  thicket  a  few  rods  in-shore, 
which  appeared  of  a  more  oblong  and  regular  form  than  is 
usual  in  such  places.  And,  scanning  the  appearance  more 
closely,  she  soon  discerned  a  small  piece  of  wrought  wood,  re- 
resembling  a  part  of  the  blade  of  an  oar,  slightly  projecting  from 
one  side  of  the  apparent  brush-heap.  Starting  at  the  sight, 
she  immediately  ran  her  canoe  ashore,  and  proceeded  at  once 
to  the  spot ;  when,  closely  peering  under  the  brush-wood,  she 
discovered  three  canoes,  with  their  oars,  concealed  beneath  a 
deep  covering  of  boughs,  surmounted  by  a  scraggy  treetop 
lying  carelessly  over  them,  as  if  blown  from  some  neighboring 
tree. 

This,  to  her,  was  an  important  discovery ;  for  it  told  her  — 
after  she  had  carefully  examined  the  place,  and  found  that  no  one 
had  been  to  the  boats  since  they  were  concealed,  which  she 
thought  must  have  been  done  several  weeks  before  —  it  told 
her,  at  once,  that  the  trappers  had  gone  to  some  distant  locality 
among  the  streams  and  mountains,  to  the  west  or  north,  from 
which  they  had  not  yet  returned  to  the  lake ;  but  doubtless 
would  so  return  before  proceeding  homeward,  provided  the 
Elwoods  had  not  both  been  slain  or  disabled  by  their  suspected 
companion.  The  discovery,  notwithstanding  the  light  it  had 
thrown  on  the  first  movements  of  the  trappers,  and  much  as 
it  narrowed  the  range  of  her  search  for  them,  but  little  relieved 
her  harrowing   apprehensions ;   and   she  resolved   to  proceed 


312  GAUT  gurley;     or, 

up  the  lake  with  her  observations,  which  might  now  as  well  be 
confined  to  this  side  of  it,  and  the  larger  streams  which  should 
here  be  found  entering  it,  and  down  some  of  which  the  com- 
pany, if  they  came  at  all,  would  probably  now  soon  come,  on 
their  way  to  the  canoes.  And,  accordingly,  she  again  set  forth 
on  her  solitary  journey.  But,  being  conscious  that  the  trap- 
pers might  now  at  any  time  suddenly  make  their  appearance, 
she  proceeded  more  cautiously,  keeping  as  far  as  possible  out  of 
the  views  that  might  be  taken  from  distant  points  of  the  lake, 
and  from  time  to  time  turning  a  watchful  eye  and  ear  on  the 
shores  around  and  before  her.  Thus,  slowly  and  timidly  advanc- 
ing, she  at  length  reached  and  rounded  the  second  headland  in 
her  course,  where  another  and  still  more  interesting  discovery 
was  in  store  for  her.  As  she  came  out  from  the  overhanging 
trees  beneath  which  she  had  shot  along  the  point,  she  unex- 
pectedly gained  a  clear  view  of  the  extreme  end  of  the  lake, 
with  what  appeared  to  be  the  mouth  of  a  considerable  stream, 
and  suddenly  backed  her  oar,  to  pause  and  reconnoitre  ;  when 
she  soon  noticed  one  spot,  near  the  supposed  inlet,  which  wore 
a  different  hue  from  the  rest,  and  which,  a  closer  inspection  told 
her,  must  be  imparted  by  the  lingering  of  undissipated  smoke, 
from  a  fire  kindled  there  as  late,  at  least,  as  that  morning.  Her 
heart  beat  violently  at  the  discovery ;  for  she  felt  assured  that 
the  trappers  had  reached  the  lake,  had  encamped  there  the 
night  before,  and  could  not  now  be  many  miles  distant.  Fear- 
ing she  should  be  seen,  if  she  remained  longer  on  the  water, 
she  at  once  resolved  to  conceal  her  canoe  in  some  plaqfe  near 
by,  and  proceed  by  land  through  the  woods  to  the  spot  of  the 
supposed  encampment,  or  near  enough  to  ascertain  how  far  her 
conjectures  were  true,  and  how  far  her  new-lit  hopes  were  to 
be  realized.  All  this  —  after  many  a  misgiving  and  many  an 
alarm,  from  the  sudden  movements  of  the  smaller  animals  of  the 
forest,  started  out  from  their  coverts  by  her  stealthy  advance  — 
had  been  by  her,  at  length,  successfully  accomplished;  the 
camp   detected    from   a   neighboring    thicket;   cautiously  ap- 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  313 

proached,  finally  entered,  and  the  joyful  discovery  made  that 
three  persons  had  slept  there  the  night  before.  Hieing  back, 
like  a  frighted  bird,  into  the  screening  forest,  she  selected  a 
<:overt  in  a  dense  thicket  on  an  elevation  about  an  hundred 
yards  distant,  where,  unseen  by  the  most  searching  eye,  she 
could  look  down  into  the  camp ;  and  there  she  lay  down  and 
anxiously  awaited  the  approach  of  night,  and,  with  it,  the  ex- 
pected return  of  the  party,  who,  she  felt  confident,  could  be 
no  others  than  those  of  whom  she  was  in  search.  And  it  was 
not  all  a  dream  with  Claud,  when  he  fancied  some  one  standing 
by  his  couch  of  repose.  A  flitting  form  had,  that  night,  indeed, 
for  a  moment  hovered  over  him,  looking  down,  with  the  sleep- 
less eye  of  love,  on  his  broken  slumbers,  and  trying  to  divine, 
perhaps,  the  very  dreams  which,  through  some  mysterious 
agency  of  the  mental  sympathies,  her  presence  was  inciting. 

Although  the  maiden  had  now  the  unspeakable  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  none  of  her  fears  had  thus  far  been  realized, 
yet  she  feU  keenly  sensible  that  the  danger  was  not  over  ;  and 
she  therefore  determined  that  she  would  not  lose  sight  of  the 
objects  of  her  vigilance  and  anxiety,  at  least  until  she  had  seen 
them  embarked  for  home  on  the  opon  lake,  where  deeds  of 
darkness  would  be  less  likely  to  be  attempted  than  in  the 
screening  forest.  She  had,  therefore,  started  from  her  uneasy 
slumbers,  the  next  morning,  at  daybreak;  watched  from  her 
covert,  with  lively  concern,  the  movements  in  the  camp  ;  and  no 
sooner  seen  them  packed  up  for  a  start,  and  headed  towards 
their  boats,  then  she  shrank  noiselessly  away  from  her  conceal- 
ment, which  was  situated  so  as  to  give  her  considerably  the 
start  of  them ;  and  fled  rapidly  down  the  lake,  in  a  line  parallel 
to  the  one  along  the  shore  which  the  trappers  would  naturally 
take,  and  so  near  it  that,  from  chosen  stands,  she  could  see  them 
as  they  came  along.  And  thus,  for  miles,  like  the  timid  ante- 
lope, she  hovered  on  their  flank,  —  now  pausing  to  get  a  glance 
of  them  through  the  trees  as  they  came  in  sight,  and  now 
fleeing  forward  again,  for  a  new  position,  to  repeat  the  observa- 
27 


314  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

tion.  Up  to  tWs  time  she  had  kept  considerablj  in  advance  of 
the  moving  party ;  but  now,  suddenly  missing  Claud,  she  couo;lit 
a  covert,  and  stood  watching  for  him,  till  Mark  Elwood,  followed 
by  Gaut  Gurley,  came  abreast  of  the  spot  she  occupied  ;  when, 
suddenly,  the  forest  shook  and  trembled  from  the  report  of  a 
gun,  bursting  from  the  bushes,  seemingly,  almost  beneath  her 
feet.  A  single  wild  glance  revealed  to  her  appalled  senses 
Gaut  Gurley,  clenching  his  smoking  rifle,  and,  with  the  look  of 
an  exulting  fiend,  glaring  out  from  behind  a  tree,  towards  his 
prostrate,  convulsed,  and  dying  victim.  On  recovering  from 
the  deeply  paralyzing  effect  of  the  horrid  spectacle,  her  first 
thought  was  for  Claud ;  and,  with  the  distracting  thought,  her 
eye  involuntarily  sought  for  the  murderer  of  his  father,  who  had 
shrunk  back  from  his  position,  but  whom  slie  soon  detected 
hastily  reloading  his  rifle,  and  then  starting,  with  a  quick  step, 
along  back  the  path  in  which  he  had  just  come, — in  search,  as 
her  alarmed  heart  suggested,  of  another  victim  for  his  infernal 
malice.  With  a  sharp,  smothered  cry  of  anguish,  she  bounded 
out  from  her  covert,  and  flew  back,  in  a  line  parallel  with  that 
of  the  retreating  murderer,  till  she  saw  him  meet  the  alarmed 
young  man  hurrying  forward  to  the  rescue  ;  when  she  suddenly 
paused,  and  listened  with  breathless  interest  to  the  dialogue  we 
have  already  related  as  occurring  between  them.  She  heard — 
and  her  heart  bounded  with  pride  as  she  did  so  —  she  heard  the 
manly  and  determined  language  of  the  young  man;  she  saw  him 
rush  by  the  wretch  who  was  trying  to  mislead  him,  to  conceal 
his  own  cri^e.  But  she  saw,  also,  the  next  moment,  with  a 
dismay  that  transfixed  her  to  the  spot,  the  murderous  rifle  raised, 
and  the  retreating,  unconscious  object  of  its  aim  stumble  for- 
ward to  the  ground ;  then  the  monster,  as  if  uncertain  of  the 
execution  of  his  bullet,  rush  forward,  with  gleaming  knife,  ap- 
parently to  finish  his  work ;  and  then  disappear  in  the  direction 
of  the  concealed  canoes,  now  less  than  a  half-mile  beyond.  All 
this  she  had  witnessed,  with  an  agony  which  no  pen  can  de- 
scribe ;  and  then,  with  the  last  glimpse  of  the  retiring  assassin, 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP   UMBAGOG.  315 

flown  to  the  side  of  his  second  victim,  badly  but  not  fatally 
wounded ;  staunched,  as  she  best  could,  the  blood  pouring  from 
his  wounds ;  hurried  off  for  her  canoe,  luckily  hid  near  by ; 
brought  it  up  to  the  shore,  within  a  few  yards  of  the  spot  where 
he  had  fallen ;  drawn  him  gently  down  to  it,  and  got  him  into  it, 
she  knew  not  how ;  and  then,  after  obliterating  the  trail,  en- 
tered herself,  and  rowed  off  to  the  thickly  wooded  little  island, 
a  furlong  to  the  northeast^,  but  hid  by  an  intervening  point 
from  the  view  of  the  foe,  now  supposed  to  be  on  his  way  to  the 
boats.  Here  she  had  contrived  to  draw  Claud  up,  in  the  light 
canoe,  on  the  farthest  shore,  and,  by  degrees,  got  both  him  and 
the  boat  on  the  dry,  mossy  ground,  safely  within  a  thicket 
w^holly  impervious  to  outward  view.  Still  fearful  of  Gaut's  re- 
turn, she  crept  to  the  south  end  of  the  island,  which  she  had 
scarcely  reached  when  she  saw  him  come  round  the  point, 
land,  drag  down  the  body  of  Marfc  Elwood,  take  it  out  some 
distance  from  the  shore,  and  sink  it,  by  steel-traps  and  stones  tied 
to  it,  deep  in  the  lake.  She  then,  with  lively  concern,  saw  him 
return  and  proceed  towards  the  spot  where  Claud  had  fallen,  but 
soon  reappear,  evidently  much  disturbed  at  not  finding  the  body, 
yet  not  seeming  to  suspect  how  it  had  been  disposed  of,  though 
several  times  coming  down  to  the  edge  of  the  water  and  peering 
anxiously  up  and  down  the  lake ;  but  she  was  soon  relieved 
from  her  fears  by  seeing  him  take  to  his  boat,  row  rapidly 
round  the  point,  there  take  in  tow  two  other  canoes,  —  which, 
it  appeared,  he  had  brought  up  and  left  there,  —  and  then 
row  down  the  lake,  in  the  direction  of  the  great  outlet ;  under 
the  belief,  doubtless,  that  Claud  had  revived,  struck  down 
through  the  w^oods  for  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  below,  where, 
if  he  had  not  before  sunk  down  and  died  of  his  wounds,  he 
might  be  waylaid  and  finished.  Thus  relieved  of  this  pressing 
apprehension,  she  hurried  back  to  her  charge,  and  carefully  ex- 
amined his  Avounds;  when  she  found  that  the  bullet,  whose 
greatest  force  had  been  broken  by  the  obstructing  limb,  had 
struck  near  the  top  of  his  head,  and  ploughed  over  the  skull  with- 


316 

out  breaking  it ;  that,  of  the  two  stabs  inflicted,  one  had  been 
turned  by  the  collar-bone,  making  only  a  long,  surface  wound, 
the  other  had  passed  through  the  fleshy  part  of  the  arm  and 
terminated  on  a  rib  beneath,  producing  a  flow  of  blood,  which, 
but  for  the  timely  and  plentiful  application  of  beaver-fur,  pulled 
from  a  skin  which  she  saw  protruding  from  his  pack,  must  have 
soon  terminated  his  life.  With  the  drinking-cup  she  found 
slung  to  his  side,  she  brought  water,  washed  the  wounds,  laid 
the  ruptured  parts  in  place,  and,  with  plasters  of  cloth  cut  from 
her  handkerchief,  and  made  adhesive  by  balsam  taken  from  a 
tree  at  hand,  covered  and  protected  them  ;  and  thus,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  a  skill  she  learned  from  her  father,  placed  them  in 
a  situation  where  nature,  with  proper  care,  would,  of  herself, 
complete  the  sanatory  operation.  She  then  resumed  the  pro- 
cess of  bathing  his  head  and  face,  and,  within  another  hour,  was 
thrilled  with  joy  in  witnessing  his  return  to  consciousness,  in 
the  manner  we  described  before  leaving  him  for  this  long 
but  necessary,  digression. 

After  giving  vent  to  her  painfully  laboring  emotions  a  while, 
the  maiden  softly  arose,  and,  creeping  down  under  the  over- 
hanging boughs  to  the  edge  of  the  water,  sat  down  on  a  stone 
and  bathed  her  throbbing  brow,  for  some  time,  in  the  limpid 
wave ;  after  which,  having  in  a  good  measure  regained  her 
usual  firmness  and  tranquillity,  she  returned  to  the  side  of  her 
wounded  friend,  whom  she  found  wrapt  in  the  deep  slumber 
generally  produced  by  exhaustion  from  loss  of  blood.  After 
gazing  a  while  on  his  face,  with  the  sad  and  yearning  look  of  a 
mother  on  a  disease-smitten  child,  a  new  thought  seemed  sud- 
denly to  occur  to  her,  and  she  noiselessly  stole  away  to  her 
former  lookout,  at  the  south  end  of  the  island,  where,  with  a 
brightening  eye,  she  caught  siglit  of  the  loathed  and  dreaded 
homicide,  just  entering  the  distant  outlet.  Waiting  no  longer 
than  to  feel  assured  that  he  had  disappeared  with  the  real  inten- 
tion of  descending  the  stream,  she  returned  to  her  still  sleeping 
charge,  slowly  and  carefully  slid  the  canoe  down  into  the  water, 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UXBAGOG.  317 

headed  it  round  with  her  hands,  gained  her  seat  in  the  stem, 
and  pushed  out  into  the  lake,  shaping  her  course  obliquely 
down  it  towards  the  mouth  of  a  small  river  entering  from  the 
eastern  side,  at  the 'lower  end  of  the  lake,  but  still  nearly  a 
mile  distant  from  the  outlet  in  which  the  murderer  had  disap- 
peared. Softly  and  smoothly  as  a  gently-rocking  cradle,  the 
light  canoe,  under  the  skillfully  plied  oar  of  the  careful  maiden, 
glided  through  the  waveless  waters  on  her  destined  course,  and, 
for  more  than  an  hour,  steadily  kept  on  its  noiseless  way,  with- 
out once  appearing  to  disturb  the  repose  of  the  slumbering 
invalid.  But,  as  the  hitherto  low-looking  forest  bordering  the 
eastern  shore  began  to  loom  up,  and  thus  apprise  the  fair  rower 
that  she  was  now  nearing  the  point  to  which  she  had  been  di- 
recting her  course,  she  noticed,  with  concern,  that  the  lake  was 
beginning  to  be  agitated,  even  where  she  then  was,  from  a  gath- 
ering breeze ;  while  a  long,  light,  advancing  line,  extending 
across  the  lake  in  the  distance  behind  her,  plainly  told  of  the 
rapid  approach  of  wind,  which  must  soon  greatly  increase  the 
disturbance  of  the  waters,  and  the  consequent  rocking  of  the 
canoe.  Knowing  how  injuriously  such  motion  of  the  boat 
might  affect  the  invalid,  she  put  forth  her  utmost  strength  in 
propelhng  the  canoe  forward  to  reach  the  quiet  haven  before 
her,  in  season  to  escape  the  threatened  roughness  of  the  water. 
But  her  best  exertions  could  secure  only  a  partial  immunity 
from  the  trouble  she  thus  sought  to  avoid.  The  wind  struck 
her  long  before  gaining  the  place ;  when,  in  spite  of  all  her 
endeavors  to  steady  it,  the  canoe  began  to  lurch  and  toss  among 
the  gathering  waves  ;  while  the  almost  immediate  awakening 
of  the  disturbed  invalid,  his  twinges  of  pain  and  suppressed 
groans,  told  her,  as  they  sent"  responsive  thrills  of  anguish 
through  her  bosom,  how  much  he  was  suffering  from  the  motion. 
To  her  great  relief,  however,  she  now  soon  reached  and  shot 
into  the  still  waters  of  the  stream,  and  this  trouble,  at  least,  was 
over.  Here,  after  passing  in  out  of  sight  of  thalake,  she  drew 
up  her  oar,  and  paused  to  reflect  and  conclude  what  should 
21* 


318 

be  her  next  movement ;  when  Claud,  whose  head  was  pillowed 
in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  and  whose  eye  was  resting  tenderly  on 
her  downcast  countenance,  soon  read  her  perplexity,  and  again 
asked  to  be  informed  of  all  that  had  happened,  and  the  object 
of  her  present  movement.  She  told  him,  —  with  such  reserva- 
tions as  maidenly  modesty  and  pride  suggested,  —  she  told  him 
all  she  had  seen,  and  in  conclusion  proposed,  as  their  enemy 
might  ambush  them,  and  as  it  was  now  drawing  towards  night, 
and  the  lake  would  not  be  quiet  enough  for  some  hours,  at  least, 
to  permit  them  to  proceed,  that  they  should  row  up  the  river 
till  they  found  an  ehgible  spot,  and  encamp  for  the  night.  To 
this  Claud  readily  assented  ;  and  they  again  set  forth  up  the 
gentle  stream,  that,  as  before  intimated,  here  came  in  from  the 
southeast ;  and,  after  proceeding  some  distance,  the  anxious 
eye  of  the  maiden  fell  on  a  place  on  the  left  bank,  where  a  tem- 
porary shelter  could  easily  be  rigged  up,  under  the  wide-spread- 
ing and  low-set  limbs  of  a  thick-topped  evergreen,  which,  of 
itself,  would  be  ample  protection  against  the  dews  of  heaven. 
Drawing  up  the  canoe  on  land  near  the  tree,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  at  the  island,  she  proceeded  to  gather  large  quantities 
of  fine  hemlock  boughs,  and  dry,  elastic  mosses,  arrange  them 
under  the  tree,  in  the  form  of  bed  and  j^illow,  and  over  the 
whole  to  spread  Claud's  blanket ;  thus  making  a  couch  as  safe 
and  comfortable  as  ever  received  the  limbs  of  a  suffering  in- 
valid. Upon  this,  partly  by  his  own  exertions  and  partly  by 
her  assistance,  he  was  then,  without  much  difficulty,  soon  trans- 
ferred from  the  ca'noe  ;  when,  with  his  light  hatchet  (she  having 
brought  all  his  implements  along  with  him  in  the  boat),  she  soon 
erected  neat,  closely-woven  wicker  walls  of  boughs,  from  the 
ground  to  the  limbs  above,  on  both  sides,  providing  within  one 
of  them  a  space  for  herself.  She  then  brought  fuel,  kindled  a 
small  fire  in  front,  and  took  her  position  at  his  side,  to  be  ready 
for  such  ministering  offices  as  his  case  might  seem  to  require. 
She  found  that  he  had  again  fallen  into  a  profound  slumber, 
which  she  at  first  regarded  as  a  favorable  omen  ;  and,  in  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  319 

conscious  security  of  the  spot,  in  the  belief  that  he  had  received 
none  of  the  injuries  she  had  apprehended  from  the  motion  of 
the  boat,  and,  above  all,  in  the  indulgence  of  that  overweening 
pride  of  affection  which  covets  all  pains  and  sacrifices  for  the 
loved  one,  she  felt  a  satisfaction  which  was  almost  happiness,  in 
her  situation.  But  it  was  not  destined  to  be  of  very  long  dura- 
tion. She  at  length  began  to  perceive  a  gradual  reddening  of 
his  cheeks,  and  then,  soon  after,  an  increasing  shortness  of  res- 
piration, and  a  general  restlessness  of  the  system.  Alarmed  at 
these  symptoms,  she  felt  his  pulse,  and  at  once  discovered  that 
he  was  in  a  high  feve'r,  supervening  from  his  Avounds,  and 
caused,  or  much  aggravated,  doubtless,  by  the  josthng  of  the 
boat  on  his  way  hither.  Starting  back,  as  if  some  unexpected 
calamity  had  suddenly  fallen  upon  her,  she  stood  some  minutes 
absorbed  in  earnest  self-consultation.  What  should  she  do  ? 
She  could  not,  dare  not,  even  were  it  daytime,  leave  him  to  go 
miles  away  for  her  father,  or  others,  for  aid  or  advice.  No ;  she 
must  stay  by  him.  And,  having  seen  the  alleviating  effects  of 
cold  water  in  fevers  and  inflammations,  and  knowing  that  there 
w^ere  no  other  remedies  within  reach,  she  at  once  decided  on  its 
application.  Accordingly,  with  her  cup  of  water  at  her  side, 
and  a  piece  of  soft,  clean  moss  in  her  hand,  she  began  sponging 
his  face,  neck,  and  the  flesh  around  his  wounds  ;  and  repeating 
this  process  at  short  intervals,  she  continued  the  tender  assidui- 
ties, with  only  occasional  snatches  of  repose,  till  the  welcome 
morning  light  broke  over  the  forest.  She  then  rose,  and,  with 
a  miniature  camp-kettle  found  among  her  patient's  effects,  pre- 
pared some  gruel  from  the  pounded  parched  corn  which  she 
had  brought  with  her.  This  he  mechanically  took  from  her 
hand,  when  aroused  for  the  purpose,  but^  immediately  relapsed 
again  into  the  same  state  of  unconsciousness  and  stupor  in 
which  he  had  lain  through  the  night.  Through  the  day  and 
night  that  followed,  but  little  variation  was  discernible  in  his 
condition,  and  as  little  was  made  in  his  treatment,  by  his  fair, 
anxious  nurse.     Through  the  next  day  and  night  it  was  still 


320  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

the  same  ;  but  towards  night,  on  the  third  day  after  his  attack, 
he  be2;an  to  show  si^rns  of  amendment,  and  before  dark  his 
fever  had  entirely  subsided,  Perceiving  this,  the  rejoiced 
maiden  prepared  him  some  more  stimulating  nourishment,  in 
the  shape  of  broth  made  from  jerked  venison.  Having  par- 
taken freely  of  this,  he  then,  with  a  whispered  "  /  am  much 
better,  Fluella,^'  sank  back  on  his  couch,  and  was  soon  buried 
in  a  sweet  and  tranquil  slumber.  Having  carefully  adjusted 
his  blanket  around  him,  and  added  her  own  shawl  to  the  cover- 
ing, and  being  now  once  more  relieved  of  her  most  pressing 
fears  for  his  fate,  the  exhausted  girl  laid  down  on  her  own 
rude  couch,  and,  before  she  was  aware,  fell  into  a  slumber  so 
deep  and  absorbing  that  she  never  once  awoke  till  the  sun  w^as 
peering  over  the  eastern  mountains  the  next  morning.  Her 
first  waking  glance  was  directed  to  the  couch  of  the  invalid. 
It  was  empty.  Starting  to  her  feet,  with  a  countenance  almost 
wild  with  concern,  she  hurriedly  ran  her  eye  through  the  forest 
around  her;  when,  with  a  suppressed  exclamation  of  joyful 
surprise,  she  soon  caught  sight  of  his  form,  slowly  making  his 
way  back  from  a  short  walk,  which  he  had,  on  avrakening,  an 
hour  before,  found  himself  able  to  take,  along  a  smooth  and 
level  path  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 

But  we  have  not  the  space,  nor  even  the  ability,  to  portray 
adequately  the  restrained  but  lively  emotions  of  joy  and  the 
charming  embarrassment  that  thrilled  the  tumultuously-beating 
bosom  of  the  one,  and  the  deep  gratitude  and  silent  admiration 
that  took  possession  of  the  other,  of  this  singularly  situated 
3^oung  couple,  during  the  succeeding  scenes  of  Claud's  now  rapid 
convalescence.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day  but  one  from  this  auspicious  morning,  they  were  on 
their  happy  way  down  through  the  lakes  and  the  connecting 
river,  to  the  chief's  residence,  where  they  safely  arrived  some 
hours  before  night,  and  where  they  were  greeted  with  demon- 
strations of  delight  which  told  what  anxieties  had  been  suffered 
on  their  account.     Here,  for  the  first  time,  they  learned  that  the 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  321 

murderer  had  been  taken  and  carried  to  the  village  for  his  pre- 
liminary trial ;  that  the  examination  had  been  postponed,  to 
allow  the  prisoner  time  to  send  for  his  counsel ;  and  that  the  hear- 
ing was  to  commence  that  very -evening,  though  the  hunter,  who 
had  that  day  made  a  hurried  journey  to  the  chief's,  to  see  if 
Fluella  had  returned  or  Claud  been  heard  from,  had  expressed 
great  fears  that  the  evidence  yet  discovered  might  not  be  deemed 
sufficient  to  convict  him  of  murder,  and  perhaps  not  to  imprison 
him  for  a  final  trial.  Claud,  perceiving  at  once  the  importance 
of  Fluella's  testimony,  as  well  as  of  his  own,  proposed  that  they 
should  immediately  proceed  that  evening  down  the  lakes  to  the 
place  of  trial.  But  neither  the  chief  nor  his  daughter  would 
suffer  him  to  undertake  the  journey  that  night.  At  her  earnest 
suggestion,  however,  it  was  at  length  arranged  that  she,  accom- 
panied by  her  half-brother,  a  lad  of  fifteen,  should  go  down  that 
evening,  and  that  the  chief,  with  Claud,  should  follow  early  the 
next  morning. 

In  pursuance  of  this  arrangement,  the  resolute  girl  and  her 
attendant,  as  soon  as  she  had  changed  her  dress  and  refreshed 
herself  with  a  meal,  embarked  on  the  lake,  and,  at  the  end  of 
the  next  hour,  they  reached  the  Great  Rapids,  leading,  as  be- 
fore described,  down  into  the  Umbagog.  Here  her  brother, 
whose  eye  and  ear,  ever  since  they  started,  had  often  been  turned 
suspiciously  to  a  dark,  heavy  cloud,  which,  seeming  to  hang 
over  the  upper  portions  of  the  Magalloway,  had  been  continu- 
ally sending  forth  peals  of  heavy  thunder,  hesitated  about  pro- 
ceeding any  farther,  and  wstrned  his  unheeding  sister  of  their 
liability  of  being  overtaken  by  the  thunder-storm.  But,  find- 
ing her  determined  to  proceed,  if  she  was  compelled  to  do  so 
alone,  he  yielded,  and,  landing  their  canoe  at  the  usual  carrying 
places,  they  shot  rapidly  down  the  stream,  and  in  less  than  an- 
other hour  came  out  on  the  broad  Umbagog,  just  es,  darkness 
was  beginning  to  enshroud  its  waters,  and  cut  off  their  view  of 
the  distant  shores  for  which  they  were  destined.  But  for  the 
light  of  day  they  found  an  ample  substitute  in  the  electric 


322 

displays,  which,  lighting  up  the  lake  to  the  blaze  of  noonday, 
were  every  instant  leaping  from  the  black,  angry  clouds,  now 
evidently  passing  off,  with  one  almost  continued  roar  of  rever- 
berating thunders,  but  a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  them.  A 
rapid  row  of  about  three  miles  now  brought  them  to  the  foot 
of  the  lake,  where  the  maiden  had  proposed  to  enter  the  river, 
and  row  down  it  to  the  swift  water,  a  short  distance  above  the 
village,  and  then  proceed  by  land.  Here,  however,  her  course 
was  unexpectedly  impeded  by  one  of  those  paradoxical  occur- 
rences which  is  peculiar  to  the  spot,  and  which  often  happens 
on  great  and  sudden  rises  of  the  Magalloway,  that,  though  en- 
tering the  Androscoggin  a  mile  down  its  course,  thus  becomes 
higher  than  the  level  of  the  Umbagog,  and  pours  its  surplus 
waters  along  up  its  stream  in  the  channel  of  the  river  last 
named,  with  a  strong,  rushing  current  into  the  lake.  And  our 
adventurers  now  found  that  masses  of  tangled  trees,  mill-logs, 
and  all  sorts  of  flood-wood,  were  driving  so  strongly  and  thickly 
up  this  channel  that  it  would  be  in  vain  for  them  to  attempt  to 
proceed  in  that  dii'ection.  But  the  purpose  of  the  heroic  girl 
to  reach  the  village,  by  some  means  or  other,  was  not  to  be  thus 
shaken.  She  directed  the  boat  to  be  rowed  back  to  the  Elwood 
Landing,  where,  leaving  it,  she  with  her  attendant  took  the  path 
to  the  cottage ;  and  reaching  this,  and  finding  all  dark  within 
she  boldly  led  the  way  down  the  long  road  to  the  bridge,  miles 
below,  with  no  other  light  than  the  still  lingering  flashes  of 
lightning  afforded  to  her  hurrying  footsteps.  But  it  was  not  till 
after  an  exhausting  walk,  and  some  time  past  midnight,  that  she 
reached  the  bridge  leading  over  the  river  to  the  tavern,  where 
the  trial  was  proceeding  ;  and  then  only  to  encounter  another 
great  obstacle  t(i.her  progress.  On  coming  up  to  the  bridge, 
she  perceived,  with  astonishment  and  dismay,  that  one-half  of 
the  structure,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  string-piece,  the 
only  connection  now  remaining  between  the  two  sides  of  the 
river,  had  been  swept  away  by  the  sudden  flood,  or  the  revolv- 
ing'trees  it  bore  on  its  rushing  surface.     She  also  ascertained, 


J 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  323 

from  a  woman  still  up,  watching  with  a  sick  child,  in  a  house 
near  by,  that  every  boat  on  that  side  the  river  had  been  either 
carried  off  by  the  unexpected  freshet,  or  taken  since  the 
bridge  went  off,  by  persons  still  coming  in,-to  get  over  to  the 
exciting  trial,  which,  it  was  understood,  would  occupy  the  whole 
night.  After  pausing  a  moment,  the  still  unshaken  maiden  bor- 
rowed and  lighted  a  lantern,  when,  without  disclosing  her  pur- 
pose, she  left  the  house  and  proceeded  directly  to  the  end  of 
the  string-piece.  She  first  examined  it  carefully,  and  finding  it 
broad,  level,  and  fixed  in  its  bed,  she  then  mounted  the  dizzy 
beam,  and  stood  for  a  moment  glancing  down  on  the  wild  rush 
of  roaring  waters  beneath.  Her  movements,  to  which  the  light 
she  carried  had  attracted  attention,  were  by  this  time  seen  and 
comprehended  by  the  crowd  around  the  tavern,  on  the  opposite 
side,  who  now  came  rushing  to  the  other  end  of  the  bridge, 
to  deter  her  from  the  bold  attempt.  But  she  heeded  them  not ; 
and  in  a  moment  more  was  seen,  with  a  quick,  firm  step,  glid- 
ing over  the  awful  chasm  ;  in  another,  she  had  reached  the 
end,  and  stood  in  safety  on  the  planks  beyond,  —  where  she  was 
greeted  by  the  throng,  who  had  witnessed  with  amazement  the 
perilous  passage,  in  a  shout  of  exultation  at  her  escape,  that 
rose  loud  and  wild  above  the  roar  of  the  waters  around  them. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

*'  So  those  two  voices  met ;  so  Joy  and  Death 
Mingled  their  accents  ;  and,  amidst  the  rush 
Of  many  thoughts,  the  listening  poet  cried, 
O  !  thou  art  mighty,  thou  art  wonderful. 
Mysterious  Nature  !     Not  in  thy  free  range 
Of  woods  and  wilds  alone,  thoublendcst  thus 
The  dirge  note  and  the  song  of  festival ; 
But  in  one  heart,  one  changeful  human  heart,  — 
Ay,  and  within  one  hour  of  that  strange  world,  — 
Thou  call'st  their  music  forth,  with  all  its  tones 
To  startle  and  to  pierce !  —  the  dying  Swan's, 
And  the  glad  Sky-lark's,  —  Triumph  and  Despair  !  " 

Our  tale  is  running  rapidly  to  a  close  ;  and  we  must  no 
more  loiter  to  gathy-  flowers  by  the  wayside,  but  depict  the 
events  which  now  come  thickly^  crowding  together,  to  make  up 
the  mingled  catastrophe. 

When  the  sheriff  and  his  scores  of  exulting  assistants  reached 
the  village  with  their  prisoner,  —  the  desperate  villain,  whom 
they  had,  with  so  much  difficulty  and  danger,  dislodged  and 
seized  in  his  rocky  den  in  the  mountains,  —  the  latter  requested 
a  postponement  of  his  examination  till  the  afternoon  of  the 
next  day,  that  he  might  have  time  to  send  for,  and  obtain,  his 
lawyer.  This  request  was  the  more  readily  gi'anted,  as  the 
party  sent  up  the  lakes  with  Moose-killer,  for  more  evidence, 
had  not  yet  returned,  and  as  their  expected  discoveries,  or  at 
least  their  presence  with  those  already  made,  might  and  would 
be  required  to  fasten  the  crime,  in  law,  on  the'  undoubted 
criminal.  The  court,  therefore,  was  adjourned  to  an  indefinite 
hour  the  next  afternoon  ;  and  the  crowd,  except  the  court,  its 
officers,  and  those  fr-^n  a  distance,  dispersed  to  assemble,  the 

(324) 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  325 

next  day,  with  increased  numbers,  to  witness  the  iinal  disposal 
of  one  who  had  now  become,  in  the  minds  of  all,  the  monster 
outlaw  of  the  settlement.  The  prisoner  was  then  taken  to  an 
adjoining  old  and  empty  log-house,  a  straw-bed  laid  on  the 
floor  for  him,  and  a  strong  guard  placed  over  him,  both  within 
and  around  the  house  without ;  so  that,  being  constantly  under 
the  eyes  of  vigilant,  well-armed  men,  there  should  be  no  pos- 
sibility of  his  escape,  either  by  his  own  exertions,  or  by  the 
aid  of  secret  accomplices.  And  these  precautions  being  faith- 
fully observed,  the  night  wore  away  without  alarm,  or  any 
kind  of  disturbance.  The  fore  part  of  the  succeeding  day  also 
passed,  though  people  soon  began  to  pour  into  the  village  from 
all  quarters,  with  singular  quietness,  —  all  seeming  to  be  op- 
pressed with  that  deep  feeling  of  hushed  expectation  which 
may  often  be  seen  to  predispose  men  to  a  sort  of  restless 
silence,  on  the  known  eve  of  an  exciting  event.  And,  through 
the  whole  of  it,  no  incident  or  circumstance  transpired  affecting 
the  great  interest  of  the  occasion,  till  about  noon ;  when  the 
news  spread  that  the  anxiously-awaited  party  from  the  upper 
lakes  were  approaching.  As  they  came  up  to  the  tavern,  the 
now  excited  crowd  quickly  closed  around  them,  and  eagerly 
listened  to  their  report.  Of  Claud  Elwood,  whom  they  had 
unknowingly  passed  and  repassed,  on  their  way  up  and  down 
the  lakes,  while  he  was  lying  helpless  in  the  secluded  retreat 
to  which  his  fair  and  devoted  preserver  had  conveyed  him, 
they  had  heard  nothing,  seen  nothing,  and  discovered  no  clues 
by  Avhich  his  locality  or  fate  could  be  traced  or  conjectured. 
But  they  had  visited,  and  carefully  examined,  the  place  pointed 
out  by  Moose-killer  as  the  one  where  Mark  Elwood  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  slain ;  and,  although  they  had  failed  to  find 
the  body  on  the  land,  or  in  the  lake,  with  the  best  means  they 
could  command  for  dragging  it,  and  although  time  had  measur- 
ably effaced  the  traces  by  which  the  sagacious  Indian  had 
judged  of  the  suspected  deed,  yet  every  appearance  went  to 
confirm  the  stiict  accuracy  of  his  previous  account.     And,  in 

28 


326  QAUT   GURLEY  ;     OR, 

addition,  they  at  last  found,  slightly  imbedded  in  the  bark  of  a 
tree,  in  the  range  of  the  path,  and  a  short  distance  to  the  south 
of  the  spot,  a  rifle  bullet,  which  had  evidently  been,  before 
striking  the  tree,  smeared  with  a  bloody  substance,  and  also 
slightly  flattened,  as  it  might  naturally  have  been,  in  striking  a 
bone,  on  its  way  through  a  man's  body.  This  seemed  to 
establish,  as  a  fact,  the  commission  of  a  murder ;  but  on  whom 
committed  was  still  left  a  debatable  question.  The  movers 
of  the  prosecution  had  hoped,  through  this  mission  up  the  lakes, 
to  obtain  evidence  which  would  conclusively  establish  the  guilt 
of  the  prisoner.  But,  to  effect  this,  and  thus  insure  his  con- 
viction, something  more  conclusive  was  still  obviously  wanting. 
And  it  was  then  that  the  indefatigable  hunter  made,  as  the 
reader  has  akeady  been  apprised,  his  last  rapid  but  fruitless 
journey  to  the  chiefs  residence,  in  the  hope  that  his  mys- 
teriously absent  daughter  might  have  returned  with  discoveries 
that  would  complete  the  chain  of  evidence.  He  having  come 
back,  however,  without  accomplishing  any  part  of  his  object, 
and  the  prisoner's  counsel  having  arrived,  and,  after  a  consult- 
ation with  his  client,  become  strangely  clamorous  to  proceed  at 
once  to  the  examination,  they  finally  concluded  to  go  into  the 
hearing  with  the  presumptive  evidence  in  possession,  and, 
backing  it  with  the  showing  of  Gaut's  previously  suspicious 
character,  for  which  they  were  now  well  prepared,  call  them- 
selves willing  to  abide  the  result.  All  this  being  now  settled, 
the  court  was  declared  open,  and  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution 
was  requested  to  proceed  with  the  case. 

After  the  attorney  for  the  prosecution  had  read  the  papers 
on  which  it  was  founded,  and  made  a  statement  of  what  was  ex- 
pected to  be  proved  in  its  support,  the  witnesses  in  that  behalf 
were  called  and  sworn.  The  first  testimony  introduced  was 
that  of  Codman  and  others,  to  show  the  deep  malice  and  implied 
threats  of  revenge  which  the  prisoner  had  so  clearly  exhibited 
towards  the  supposed  murdered  man,  in  the  prosecution  of 
which  the  latter  was  a  principal  mover,  the  winter  before.     But 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  327 

this  evidence,  ulien  sifted  by  the  long  and  severe  cross-ex- 
amination that  followed,  and  found  to  consist,  instead  of  definite 
words,  almost  wholly  of  menacing  looks  and  other  silent 
demonstrations  of  rage,  which  are  ever  extremely  difficult  to 
bring  out  in  words  with  their  original  effect,  amounted  to  so 
little  that  the  prisoner's  counsel  attempted  to  turn  it  into  ridicule 
with  considerable  show  of  success.  Testimony  in  relation  to 
the  canoe  of  the  Elwoods,  recently  found  washed  up  among 
the  rapids,  which  was  next  introduced,  was  found,  when  tested 
in  the  same  way,  in  despite  of  the  opinions  of  the  practical 
boatmen  who  were  the  witnesses,  to  be  almost  equally  incon- 
clusive of  the  prisoner's  guilt;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  his 
counsel  seemed  greatly  inclined  to  appropriate  it,  as  showing 
the  probable  manner  in  which  the  Elwoods,  if  they  were  not 
still  both  alive,  had  come  to  their  end. 

By  this  time,  —  as  the  court  of  inquiry  was  not  opened  till 
nearly  sunset,  and  as  the  examinations,  cross-examinations,  and 
preliminar}'  speeches  of  the  opposing  counsel,  on  disputed  points 
of  evidence,  had  been  drawn  out  to  seemingly  almost  intermi- 
nable lengths,  —  by  this  time,  it  was  nearly  midnight ;  and  the 
prosecuting  party  now  proposed  an  adjournment  till  morning. 
But  this  was  strenously  opposed  by  Gaut's  lawyer,  who,  affect- 
ing to  believe  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  malicious  prosecution 
growing  out  of  the  suit  last  winter,  and  got  up  by  certain  men 
who  had  banded  together  to  revenge  their  defeat  on  that  occa- 
sion, and  ruin  his  client,  boldly  demanded  that  the  prisoner 
should  be  discharged,  or  his  conspiring  enemies  be  compelled 
to  proceed  at  once  with  "  their  sham  prosecution,"  as  he  put 
on  the  face  to  call  it. 

This  stand,  which  was  obviously  instigated  by  the  prisoner 
himself,  who  narrowly  watched  the  proceedings,  and,  from  time 
to  time,  was  seen  whispering  in  the  ear  of  his  counsel,  produced 
the  desired  effect :  the  motion  was  overruled,  and  the  counsel 
for  the  prosecution  told  to  go  on  with  his  evidence. 

Moose-killer  was  then   called  on  to  the  witnesses'  stand, 


328  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

when,  for  the  first  time,  Gaut  exhibited  evident  signs  of  un- 
easiness, and  whispered  something  in  the  ear  of  his  counsel, 
who  thereupon  rose  and  went  into  a  labored  argument  against 
the  admissibility  of  the  evidence  of  an  Indian,  who  was  -a  pagan, 
and  knew  nothing  about  the  God  whose  invocation  constituted 
the  sacred  effect  of  the  oath  he  had  taken.  But,  on  the  ques- 
tioning of  the  court,  Moose-killer  declared  his  full  belief  in  the 
white  Christian's  God  and  Bible,  and  this  objection  was  over- 
ruled, and  the  witnesss  requested  to  proceed  with  his  story. 

The  demure  Indian,  unmoved  by  the  burning  and  vengeful 
eye  of  Gaut,  which  was  kept  constantly  riveted  upon  him,  then 
succinctly  but  clearly  related  all  the  facts,  of  which  the  reader 
has  been  apprised  in  the  preceeding  pages,  in  relation  to  the 
atrocious  deed  under  investigation.  And  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  story  he  produced  the  bullet  found  imbedded  in  the  tree, 
called  attention  to  its  smeared  and  flattened  appearance,  and 
then  asked  for  the  prisoner's  rifle,  to  see  whether  it  would 
fit  in  the  bore.  The  rifle  in  question  was  then  brought  into 
court,  the  bullet  applied  to  the  muzzle,  and  pronounced  an  exact 
fit !  A  shout  of  exultation  burst  from  the  crowd,  and  in  a  tone 
so  significant  of  the  public  feeling,  and  of  their  unanimous 
opinion  on  this  point,  that  for  a  moment  both  the  prisoner  and 
his  counsel  were  completely  disconcerted.  But,  soon  rallying, 
the  latter  started  to  his  feet,  and,  having  summoned  back  to 
its  place  his  usual  quantum  of  brass,  demanded  "the  privilege 
of  just  looking  at  that  rifle  they  were  all  making  such  a  fuss 
about."  It  was  accordingly  handed  to  him ;  when,  after  notic- 
ing the  size  of  the  bore,  which  was  a  common  one,  and  then 
glancing  at  some  other  rifles  held  in  the  hands  of  different 
spectators,  he  confidently  requested  that  the  first  half-dozen 
rifles  to  be  found  among  the  crowd  should  be  brought  on  to 
the  stand.  Five  of  the  designated  number  were  soon  gathered 
and  brought  forward ;  and  it  was  found,  in  the  comparison, 
that  three  of  them  were  of  the  same  bore  as  that  of  Gaut, 
and  that  the  ball  in  question  would  fit  one  as  well  as  another. 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  329 

"  There  !  what  has  become  of  your  bullet  evidence  noAv  ?  " 
sneeringly  exclaimed  the  exulting  attorney.  "  Wondrous  con- 
clusive, a'n't  it?  But,  as  weak  as  the  whole  story  is,  I  will 
make  it  still  weaker.  It  is  my  turn  with  you  now,  my  foxy 
red  friend,"  he  added,  settling  back  in  his  seat  to  commence  his 
cross-examination. 

His  vaunted  cross-examination,  however,  resulted  in  giving 
him  no  advantage.  The  Indian  could  not  be  made,  in  the 
whole  hour  the  brow-beating  inquisitor  devoted  to  liim,  either 
to  cross  himself  or  vary  a  single  statement  of  his  direct  testi- 
mony, and  he  was  petulantly  ordered  to  leave  the  stand. 

"Not  done  talk  yet,"  said  Moose-killer,  lingering,  and 
glancing  inquiringly  to  the  court  and  the  counsel  for  the  prose- 
cution.    "  More  story  me  tell  yet." 

Gaut's  lawyer  looked  up  doubtfully  to  the  witness  ;  but,  think- 
ing he  must  have  told  all  he  could  to  implicate  the  prisoner, 
and  that  any  thing  now  added  might  show  discrepancies,  of 
which  some  advantage  could  be  taken,  remained  silent,  and, 
for  once,  interposed  no  objection  to  letting  the  Indian  take  his 
own  course ;  when  the  latter,  on  receiving  an  encouraging  inti- 
mation to  speak  from  the  other  attorney,  proceeded,  in  his  pe- 
culiarly broken  but  graphic  manner,  to  make  in  substance  the 
following  extraordinary  revelation : 

About  ten  years  ago  (he  said),  there  came,  from  what  part  no- 
body knew,  a  strange,  questionable  personage,  into  the  neighbor- 
hood of  a  few  famiUes  of  St.  Frangois  Indians,  encamping  for  the 
hunting  season  around  the  head-water  lakes  of  the  Long  Kiver, 
as  he  termed  the  Connecticut,  and  went  to  trapping  for  sable  and 
beaver.  But  he  soon  fell  into  difficulties  with  the  Indians,  who 
believed  he  robbed  their  traps ;  and  with  one  family  in  partic- 
ular he  had  a  fierce  and  bitter  altercation.  This  family  had  a 
small  child,  that  began  to  ramble  from  the  wigwam  out  into 
the  woods,  and  that,  one  night,  failed  to  come  home.  They 
suspected  who  had  got  it,  and  next  day  followed  the  trail  to 
the  man's  camp ;  when  they  soon  found  where  the  child  had 
28* 


330  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

been  butchered,  cut  up,  and  used  to  bait  his  sable-traps  !  But 
the  monster,  becoming  alarmed,  had  fled,  and  never  afterwards 
could  be  found." 

AVith  this.  Moose-killer,  who  had  evidently  put  his  story  in 
this  shape  to  avoid  interruption,  suddenly  paused,  and  then,  with 
one  hand  raised  imploringly  towards  the  court  and  the  other 
stretched  out  menacingly  towards  the  prisoner,  wildly  ex- 
claimed : 

"  0,  that  was  my  child !  and  this  was  the  man  who  murdered 
it!" 

A  thrill  of  horror  ran  through  the  crowd  as  the  witness  came 
to  the  conclusion  of  his  revolting  story.  And  so  completely 
were  all  taken  by  surprise  by  the  startling,  and  as  most  of  them 
believed  truthful,  revelation,  and  so  great  was  the  sensation 
produced  by  the  appalling  atrocities  it  disclosed,  that  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  court  were  for  some  moments  brought  to  a  dead 
stand.  But  soon  the  shrill,  harsh  voice  of  Gaut's  lawyer  was 
heard  rising  above  the  buzz  of  the  excited  crowd,  and  bursting  in 
a  storm  of  denunciation  and  abuse  on  the  witness,  and  all  those 
who  had  a  hand  in  bringing  him  forward,  to  thrust  in,  against 
all  rule,  such  a  story,  —  which,  if  true,  had  no  more  to  do 
with  the  prosecution  now  in  progress  than  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Alcoran.  But  it  was  not  true.  It  was  a  monstrous  fab- 
rication. It  represented  as  a  fact  what  never  occurred  in  all 
Christendom.  It  was  stamped  with  falsehood  on  the  face  of  it; 
and  not  only  spoke  for  itself  as  such,  but  was  a  virtual  self-im- 
peachment of  the  witness,  whose  whole  testimony  the  court 
should  now  throw  to  the  winds.  And  so,  for  the  next  half-hour, 
he  went  on,  ranting  and  raving,  till  the  court,  interposing,  as- 
sured him  that  the  witness'  last  story  would  not  be  treated  as 
testimony  in  the  case  ;  when  he  became  pacified,  and  took  his 
seat. 

The  counsel  on  the  other  side,  who,  during  his  opponent's  ex- 
plosive display  of  rhetorical  gas  and  brimstone,  had  been  hold- 
ing an  earnest  consultation  with  Phillips  (now  also  at  hand  with 


THE   TRAPPERS    OP   UMBAGOG.  331 

a  disclosure  which  had  been  reserved  for  the  present  moment) , 
then  calmly  rose,  and  said  he  had  a  statement  to  make,  which 
.he  stood  ready  to  substantiate,  and  to  which  he  respectfully 
asked  the  attention  of  the  court,  as  a  matter  that  should  be  taken 
into  the  account  in  considering  the  prisoner's  guilt  in  the  pres- 
ent case,  it  being  one  of  the  many  offences  that  appeared  to 
have  marked  his  career  of  almost  unvarying  crime  and  iniquity. 
He  was  well  aware  of  the  general  rule  of  evidence,  which  ex- 
cludes matters  not  directly  connected  with  the  point  at  issue ;  but 
there  were  cases  in  which  that  rule  often  had,  and  necessarily 
ever  must  be,  materially  varied, — as  in  the  crim.  con.  cases  re- 
ported in  the  books,  where  previous  like  acts  were  admitted, 
to  show  the  probability  of  the  commission  of  the  one  charged, 
and  also  in  cases  like  the  present,  resting,  as  he  admitted  it 
thus  far  did,  on  presumptive  evidence.  In  this  view,  notwith- 
standing all  that  had  been  said  or  intimated,  he  believed  the 
concluding  testimony  of  the  last  witness  proper  to  be  considered 
in  balancing  the  presumptions  of  the  prisoner's  guilt  or  inno- 
cence. And  especially  relevant  did  he  deem  the  statement, 
and  the  introduction  of  the  evidence  he  had  at  hand  to  substan- 
tiate it,  which  he  had  now  risen  to  offer.  But,  even  were  it 
otherwise,  it  would  soon  be  seen  that  the  step  he  was  about  to 
take  would  be  particularly  suitable  to  be  taken  while  the  court 
and  the  officers  of  justice  were  together,  and  the  prisoner  under 
their  control.  With  these  preliminary  remarks,  he  would  now 
proceed  with  the  statement  he  had  proposed. 

"  This  man,"  continued  the  attorney  (whom  we  will  now  re- 
port in  the  first  person) , "  the  man  who  stands  here  charged,  and, 
in  the  minds  of  nine  out  of  ten  of  all  present,  I  fearlessly  af- 
firm, justly  charged,  with  a  murder,  to  the  deliberate  atrocity 
of  which  scarce  a  parallel  can  be  found  in  the  world's  black 
catalogue  of  crime,  —  this  man,  I  say,  is  a  felon-refugee  from 
British  justice. 

"  Many  years  ago,  —  as  some  here  present  may  know,  as  a 
matter  of  history,  —  a  secret  and  somewhat  extended  conspiracy 


332 

to  subvert  the  government  of  Lower  Canada  was  seasonably- 
discovered  and  crushed  at  Quebec,  which  was  its  principal  seat, 
and  which,  according  to  the  plan  of  the  conspirators,  was  to  be 
the  first  object  of  assault  and  seizure.  This  was  to  be  effected 
by  the  contemporaneous  rising  of  a  strong  force  within  the  city, 
headed  by  a  bold  adventurer,  a  bankrupt  merchant  from  Rhode 
Island,  and  of  an  army  of  raftsmen,  collected  from  the  rivers, 
without,  led  on  by  a  reckless  and  daring,  half-Scotch,  half-In- 
dian Canadian,  who  had  acquired  great  influence  over  that 
restless  and  ruffian  class  of  men.  The  former  had  been  in  the- 
province  in  the  year  before,  and,  from  witnessing  the  popular 
disaffection  then  rampant  from  the  enforcement  of  an  odious 
act  of  their  Parliament  to  compel  the  building  of  roads,  had, 
w^ith  the  instigation  of  such  desperate  fellows  as  the  latter,  his 
Canadian  accomplice,  conceived  this  plot,  and  had  now  come 
on,  with  a  small  band  of  recruits,  to  carry  it  into  execution ; 
when,  as  all  was  nearly  ripe  for  the  outbreak,  the  whole  plot 
was  discovered.  The  poor  Yankee  leader  was  seized,  tried 
for  high  treason,  condemned  to  death,  and  strung  up  by  the 
neck  from  the  walls  of  Quebec*  But  the  more  wary  and  for- 
tunate Canadian  leader,  though  tenfold  more  guilty,  escaped 
into  the  wilderness,  this  side  of  the  British  line ;  lingered  a  year 
or  two  in  this  region,  trapping  and  robbing  the  Indians ;  then 
took  to  smuggling ;  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  man  whose 
murder  we  are  now  investigating,  followed  him  to  the  city, 
nearly  ruined  him  there,  and  then  dogged  him  to  this  settlement 
to  complete  his  destruction." 

"  Who  do  you  mean  ?  "  thundered  Gaut  Gurley. 

"  Ask  your  own  conscience,"  replied  the  attorney,  fearlessly 
confronting  the  prisoner. 

"  'Tis  false  as  hell !  "  rejoined  Gaut,  with  a  countenance  con- 
vulsed with  rage. 

"  No,  you  mistake,  —  it  is  as  true  as  hell,"  promptly  retorted 

*  See  Christie's  History  of  Lower  Canada 


THE   TRAPPERS    OF   UMBAGOG.  333 

the  other ;  "  or,  rather,  as  true  as  there  is  one  for  such  wretches 
as  you.  Mr.  Phillips,"  he  added,  turning  to  the  hunter,  who 
stood  a  little  in  the  background,  with  his  rifle  poised  on  his  left 
arm,  with  an  air  of  carelessness,  but,  as  a  close  inspection  would 
have  shown,  so  grasped  by  his  right  hand,  held  down  out  of 
sight,  as  to  enable  him  to  bring  it  to  an  instant  aim,  —  "  Mr. 
Phillips,  were  you  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Quebec,  fall  and 
spring,  to  dispose  of  your  peltries,  about  the  time  of  this  plotted 
insurrection  ?  " 

"I  was." 

"  Did  you  ever  have  the  Canada  leader  I  have  spoken  of 
pointed  out  to  you,  previous  to  the  outbreak  ?  " 

"  Often,  on  going  down  the  Chaudiere  river,  often  ;  why,  I 
knew  him  by  sight  as  well  as  the  devil  knows  his  hogs ! " 

"  Did  you  afterwards  see  and  identify  him  in  this  region  ?  " 

"  I  did."      ^ 

"  Is  not,  then,  all  I  have  stated  true ;  and  is  not  the  prisoner, 
here,  the  man  ?  " 

"  All  as  true  as  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark ;  and  that  is  the 
man,  the  very  man  ;  under  the  oath  of  God,  I  swear  it !  " 

During  this  brief  but  terribly  pointed  dialogue,  Gaut  Gurley, 
— whose  handcuffs,  on  his  complaint  that  they  galled  his  wrists, 
had  been  removed  after  he  came  into  court,  —  sat  watching 
Phillips  with  that  same  singularly  sinister  expression  which  we 
have,  on  one  or  two  previous  occasions,  tried  to  describe  him  as 
exhibiting.  It  was  a  certain  indescribable,  whitish,  lurid  light, 
flashing  and  quivering  over  his  countenance,  that  made  the  be- 
holder involuntarily  recoil.  And,  as  the  last  words  were  uttered, 
his  hand  was  seen  covertly  stealing  up  under  the  lapel  of  his 
coat ;  but  it  was  instantly  arrested  and  dropped,  at  the  sharp 
click  of  the  cocking  of  the  hunter's  rifle,  which  was  also  seen 
stealing  up  to  his  shoulder. 

"Nonsense!"  half  audibly  said  the  sheriff,  to  something 
which,  during  the  bustle  and  sensation  following  these  mani- 
festations, the  hunter  had  been  whispering  in  his  ear  ;  "  non- 


334  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

sense !  I  searched  him  myself,  and  know  there  is  nothing  of  the 
kind  about  him." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that,"  responded  the  hunter,  edging 
along  through  the  crowd,  with  his  eye  still  on  the  prisoner,  and 
soon  disappearing  out  of  the  door. 

This  little  judicial  interlude  in  the  remarks  of  the  attorney 
being  over,  he  resumed : 

"  My  statement  having  been  thus  corroborated,  and,  as  I  am 
most  happy  to  find,  without  any  of  the  expected  interruptions, 
it  now  only  remains  for  me  to  say,  that  this  indefatigable  Mr. 
Phillips,  becoming  perfectly  convinced  that  the  prisoner  was  a 
man  of  whom  it  was  a  patriotic  duty  to  rid  the  settlement,  has, 
within  the  last  two  months,  made  a  journey  into  Canada ;  ob- 
tained a  written  official  request  from  the  governor-general, 
addressed  to  the  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  for  the  delivery 
of  Gaut  Gurley,  at  the  time  when,  on  notice,  the  proper  officers 
would  be  in  waiting  to  receive  him  ;  that  our  governor  has 
responded  by  issuing  his  warrant;  which,"  he  continued,  draw- 
ing out  a  document,  "  I  now,  in  this  presence,  deliver  to  the 
sheriff,  to  be  served,  but  only  served,  in  case  we  fail  —  as  I  do 
not  at  all  anticipate  —  to  secure  the  commitment  and  final  con- 
viction of  the  prisoner,  on  the  flagitious  offence  now  under  in- 
vestigation, and  loudly  demanding  expiation  under  our  own 
violated  laws,  in  preference  to  delivering  him  up  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  other  and  less  crying  felonies." 

The  prisoner  and  his  counsel,  on  this  new  and  unexpected 
development,  held  an  earnest  whispered  consultation.  The 
latter  had  supposed,  till  almost  the  last  moment,  that  his  oppo- 
nent was  intending  only  to  bring  in  another  piece  of  what  he 
deemed  wholly  irrelevant  testimony,  in  the  shape  of  another 
gone-by  transaction ;  and  he  was  preparing  another  storm  of 
wrath  for  the  judicial  outrage.  But,  when  he  found  that  the 
statement  w^as  a  preliminary  to  a  different  and  more  alarming 
movement,  and  especially  when  he  saw  placed  in  the  sheriff's 
hands  a  warrant  for  delivering  up  his  client  to  tlie  British,  to  be 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  335 

tried  for  a  former  felony,  from  the  punishment  of  which,  he 
feared,  from  what  he  had  just  heard,  there  would  be  no  escape, 
he  was  sadly  nonplussed,  and  knew  not  which  way  to  turn 
himself.  And  it  was  not  until  Gaut,  who,  though  thus  suddenly 
brought  into  a  dilemma  which  he  was  little  expecting,  was  yet 
at  no  loss  to  decide  on  his  course,  —  that  of  making  every  pos- 
sible effort  to  escape  the  more  immediate  pending  danger,  and 
then  of  trusting  to  chance  for  eluding  the  more  remote  one  just 
brought  to  view,  —  it  was  not  till  Gaut,  with  assurances  of  the 
last  being  but  a  miserable,  trumped-up  affair,  had  pushed  and 
goaded  him  up  to  action,  that  the  dumbfounded  attorney  re- 
covered his  old  confidence.  He  then  straightened  back  in  his 
seat,  and,  with  the  air  of  one  who  has  meekly  borne  some  im- 
position, or  breach  of  privilege,  till  it  can  be  borne  no  longer, 
turned  gruffly  to  his  opponent,  and  said  : 

"  Well,  sir,  having  dragged  every  thing  into  this  case  except 
what  legitimately  belongs  to  it,  I  want  to  know  if  you  are 
through,  now  ?  "We,  on  our  side,  have  no  need  of  introducing 
testimony  to  meet  any  thing  you  have  yet  been  able  to  show. 
Why,  you  have  not  even  established  the  first  essential  fact  to  be 
settled  in  prosecutions  for  homicide.  You  have  arraigned  my 
client  for  killing  a  man,  and  yet  have  shown  nobody  killed ! 
No,  we  shall  introduce  no  witnesses  till  the  body  of  the  alleged 

murdered  man  is  produced  ;  for,  till  then,  no  court  on  earth 

But  I  am  not  making  a  speech,  and  will  not  anticipate.  All  I 
intended  was,  to  ask,  as  I  do  again,  are  you  through  with  your 
evidence  noiv  ?  " 

The  attorney  for  the  prosecution  then  admitted  —  rather  pre- 
maturely, as  it  was  soon  seen  —  that  he  thought  of  nothing  more 
which  he  wished  to  introduce. 

"  Go  on  with  your  opening  speech,  then,"  resumed  the 
former. 

"  No,"  said  the  other,  "  I  waive  my  privilege  of  the  opening 
and  close,  and  will  only  claim  the  closing  speech." 

"  0,  very  well,  sir,"  said  Gaut's  lawyer,  throwing  a  surprised 


336  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

and  suspicious  look  around,  as  if  to  see  whether  some  trap  was 
not  involved  in  this  unexpected  waiver  of  the  usually  claimed 
privilege.  "  Very  well ;  don't  blame  you ;  shouldn't  think  you 
could  find  honest  materials  even  for  one  speech." 

The  hard-faced  attorney,  who  was  reputed  one  of  the  best  of 
what  are  sometimes  termed  deviVs  lawyers,  in  all  that  part  of  the 
country,  then  consequentially  gathered  up  his  minutes  of  the 
testimony,  glanced  over  them,  and,  clearing  his  throat,  com- 
menced his  great  final  speech,  which  was  to  annihilate  his 
opponent,  and  quash  the  whole  proceedings  of  the  prosecution. 

But  he  had  scarcely  spoken  ten  words,  before  a  tremendous 
shout,  rising  somewhere  in  the  direction  of  the  bridge, —  to  which 
their  attention  had  been  before  called,  when  a  part  of  it  had 
been  swept  away  during  the  first  hours  of  the  night,  —  broke  and 
reverberated  into  the  room,  bringing  him  to  an  instant  stand. 
Feeling  that  something  extraordinary  had  occurred,  the  startled 
court,  parties  and  spectators,  alike  paused,  and  eagerly  listened 
for  something  further  to  explain  the  sudden  outbreak.  But, 
for  several  minutes,  all  was  still,  or  hushed  down  to  the  low  hum 
of  mingling  voices,  and  not  a  distinct,  intelligible  sound  reached 
their  expectant  senses.  Soon,  however,  the  noise  of  trampling 
feet  and  the  rush  of  crowds  was  heard,  and  perceived  to  be 
rapidly  approaching  the  door  of  the  court-room.  And  the 
next  moment  the  clear,  loud  voice  of  the  now  evidently  excited 
hunter  was  heard  exultantly  ringing  out  the  announcement : 

"  A  witness,  a  new  witness  !  A  witness  that  saw  the  very 
deed!" 

This  sudden  and  exciting  announcement  of  an  occurrence 
which  had  been  hoped  for,  in  some  shape,  on  one  side,  and 
feared  on  the  other,  but,  at  this  late  hour  of  the  night,  little  ex- 
pected by  either,  at  once  tlft-ew  all  within  the  crowded  court- 
room into  bustle  and  commotion.  Both  parties  to  the  pri)secu- . 
tlon  were  consequently  taken  ^by  surprise ;  and  both,  though 
neither  of  them  were  yet  apprised  of  the  character  of  the  wit- 
ness, were  aroused  and  agitated  by  the  significant  announce- 


THE   TRAPPERS  OE  UMBAGOG.  337 

ment.  But,  of  all  present,  none  seemed  so  much  stirred  as  the 
obdurate  prisoner,  who  had,  thus  far  in  the  examination, 
scarcely  once  wholly  lost  his  usual  look  of  bold  assurance,  but 
who  now  was  seen  casting  rapid,  uneasy,  and  evidently  troubled 
glances  towards  the  door ;  doubtless  expecting,  each  moment, 
to  see  the  fear  which  had  haunted  him  from  the  first  —  that 
Claud  Elwood  would  turn  up  alive,  and  appear  in  court  against 
him  —  realized  in  the  person  of  the  new  witness.  His  lawyer 
also,  appeared  to  be  seized  with  similar  apprehensions ;  and, 
the  next  moment,  he  was  heard  loudly  demanding  the  attention 
of  the  court.  He  objected,  he  pointedly  objected,  .he  protested, 
in  advance,  against  the  admission  of  further  testimony.  He  had 
borne  every  tJdng  during  the  hearing,  but  could  not  bear  this. 
The  pleas  were  closed,  and  the  case  concluded  against  the  in- 
troduction of  new  evidence  ;  and  that,  too,  by  the  express  no- 
tice and  agreement  of  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution.  And 
now  to  open  it  would  be  in  glaring  violation  of  all  rule,  all 
law,  and  ail  precedent.  In  short,  it  would  be  an  outrage  too 
gross  to  be  tolerated  anywhere  but  in  a  land  of  despotism. 
And,  if  the  court  would  not  at  once  decide  to  exclude  the  threat- 
ened testimony,  he  must  be  heard  at  length  on  the  subject. 

But  the  court  declining  so  to  decide,  and  intimating  that  they 
were  willing  to  hear  an  argument  on  the  point,  of  any  reason- 
able length,  he  spread  himself  for  the  wordy  onset.  The  sheriff, 
—  who,  in  the  mean  time,  had  started  for  the  door  to  make  an 
opening  in  the  crowd  for  the  expected  entrance,  —  seeing  that  a 
long  speech  was  in  prospect,  now  went  out,  conducted  the  prof- 
fered witness,  in  waiting  near  by,  to  another  room  in  the  house 
to  remain  there  till  called ;  and  then  returned,  and,  in  a  low 
tone,  made  some  communication  to  the  court. 

The  pertinacious  lawyer  then  went  on  with  his  heated  pro- 
test, as  it  might  be  called  far  more  properly  than  an  argument, 
to  the  length  of  nearly  an  hour.  The  calm,  manly,  and  cogent 
reply  of  his  opponent  occupied  far  less  time,  but  obtained  far 
more  favor  with  the  sitting  magistrates  ;  who,  after  a  short  con" 

29 


338  GAUT  gurley;    or, 

sultation  among  themselves,  unanimously  decided  to  hear  the 
proposed  evidence,  and  thereupon  ordered  the  sheriff  to  conduct 
the  witness  at  once  into  court. 

A  breathless  silence  now  ensued  in  the  court-room,  and  every 
eye  was  involuntarily  turned  towards  the  door.  In  a  few  min- 
utes the  sheriff,  closely  followed  by  two  females,  made  his  ap- 
pearance, and  cleared  his  way  up  to  the  stand  that  had  been 
occupied  by  the  witnesses.  No  names  had  been  announced, 
and  both  the  ladies  were  veiled,  so  that  their  faces  could  not  be 
seen  in  the  dusky  apartment,  lighted  only  by  two  dim  candles, 
made  dimmer,  seemingly,  by  the  morning  twilight,  then  beginning 
to  steal  through  the  windows,  and  to  produce  that  dismal  and 
almost  sickening  hue  peculiar  to  the  equal  mingling  of  the  natural 
light  of  day  with  the  artificial  light  of  lamp  or  taper.  And  it  was 
not  consequently  known,  except  to  one  or  two  individuals,  who 
they  were ;  but  enough  was  seen,  in  the  enlarged  form  and 
sober  tread  of  the  one,  and  in  the  rounded,  trim  figure  and 
elastic  step  of  the  other,  to  show  the  former  to  be  a  middle- 
aged  matron,  and  the  latter  a  youthful  maiden.  Each  was 
garbed  in  rich  black  silk,  to  which  were  added,  in  the  one  case, 
some  of  the  usual  emblems  of  mourning,  and  in  the  other,  a 
few  simple,  tastily  contrasted,  light  trimmings. 

"  "What  are  these  ladies'  names  ?.  or  rather,  first,  I  will  ask, 
which  of  them  is  the  witness  ?  "  said  the  leading  magistrate. 

"  I  am,  I  suppose,"  said  the  maiden,  in  tones  as  soft  and 
tremulous  as  the  lightly-touched  chord  of  some  musical  instru- 
ment, as  she  threw  back  her  veil,  and  disclosed  a  beauty  of 
features  and  sweetness  of  countenance  that  at  once  raised  a- 
buzz  of  admiration  through  the  room. 

"  Your  name,  young  lady  ?  " 

"  Fluella,  sir ;  and  this  lady  at  my  side  is  Mrs.  Mark  Elwood, 
who  comes  only  as  my  friend." 

"  You  understand  the  usages  of  courts,  I  conclude  ;  and,  if 
so,  will  now  receive  the  oath,  and  go  on  to  tell  what  you  know 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  339 

relative  to  the  crime  for  which,  joli  have  doubtless  heard,  the 
prisoner  here  is  arraigned." 

At  once  raising  her  hand,  she  was  sworn,  and  proceeded  di- 
rectly to  state  that  part  of  the  transaction  she  had  witnessed  on 
the  lake,  which  the  hunter,  in  the  conversation  she  found  means 
to  have  with  him  while  waiting  to  be  taken  into  court,  had 
advised  her  was  all  that  would  be  important  as  evidence  in  the 
case. 

Gaut  Gurley,  the  alarmed  prisoner,  who  at  first  had  appeared 
greatly  relieved  on  finding  that  the  announced  witness  was  not 
the  reanimated  young  Elwood,  as  he  had  feared,  now  seemed 
utterly  at  fault  to  conjecture  what  either  of  these  women  could 
know  of  his  crime.  But  the  moment  the  maiden,  whom  he  had 
seen  the  previous  year,  and  regarded  with  jealous  dislike,  as 
the  possible  rival  of  his  daughter,  revealed  herself  to  his  view, 
his  looks  grew  dark  and  suspicious ;  and  when  she  commenced 
by  mentioning,  as  she  did  at  the  outset,  that  she  was  on  a 
boat  excui'sion  along  the  western  shore  of  the  Maguntic,  on  the 
well-remembered  day  when  he  consummated  his  long  cherished 
atrocity,  he  seemed  to  comprehend  the  drift  of  what  was  com- 
ing, and  his  eyes  fastened  on  her  with  the  livid  glare  of  a  tiger; 
while  those  demoniac  flashes,  before  noted  as  the  usual  percursor 
of  hellish  intent  with  him,  began  to  burn  up  and  play  over  his 
contracting  countenance. 

But  these  suspicious  indications  had  escaped  the  notice  of 
all,  —  even  of  the  watchful  hunter,  whose  lo  oks,  with  those  of 
the  rest,  were  for  the  nwment  hanging,  with  intense  interest, 
on  the  speaking  lips  of  the  fair  witness.  And  she  proceeded 
uninterrupted,  till,  having  described  the  position  in  the  thicket 
on  shore,  in  which  she  was  standing,  as  Mark  Elwood,  followed 
by  Gaut  Gurley,  both  of  whom  she  recognized,  came  along, 
she,  nerving  herself  for  the  task,  raised  her  voice  and  said  : 

"  I  distinctly  saw  Mr.  Elwood  fall,  convulsed  in  death,  — 
heard  the  fatal  shot,  and  instantly  traced  it  to  Gaut,  before  he 


340  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

had  taken  his  smoking  rifle  from  his  shoulder,  —  this  same  man 
who  now " 

When,  as  she  was  uttering  the  last  words,  and  turning  to 
the  prisoner,  she  stopped  short,  recoiled,  and  uttered  a  loud 
shriek  of  terror.  And,  the  next  instant,  the  deafening  report 
of  a  pistol  burst  from  the  corner  where  the  prisoner  was  sitting, 
filling  the  room  with  smoke,  and  bringing  every  man  to  his 
feet,  in  the  amazement  and  alarm  that  seized  all  at  the  sudden 
outbreak. 

There  was  a  dead  pause  for  a  moment ;  and  then  was  heard 
the  sudden  rush  of  men,  the  sharp,  brief  struggle,  and  the 
heavy  fall  of  the  grappled  prisoner,  as  he  was  borne  over- 
powered to  the  floor. 

"  Thank  God ! "  exclaimed  the  hunter,  the  first  to  reach  the 
bewildered  maiden,  and  ascertain  what  had  befell  from  this 
fiendish  attempt  to  take  her  life  simply  because  she  was  instru- 
mental in  bringing  a  wretch  to  justice,  —  "thank  God,  she  is 
unhurt !  The  bullet  has  only  cut  the  dress  on  her  side,  and 
passed  into  the  wall  beyond." 

"  Order  in  court ! "  sternly  cried  the  head  magistrate.  "  It 
is  enough !  Mr.  Phillips,  conduct  these  ladies  to  some  more 
suitable  apartment.  We  wish  for  no  more  proof.  The  pris- 
oner's guilt  is  already  piled  mountain-high.  "We  commit  him 
to  your  hands,  Mr.  Sheriff.  Within  one  hour,  let  him  be  on 
his  way  to  Lancaster  jail,  there  to  await  his  final  trial  and 
doom,  for  one  of  the  foulest  murders  that  ever  blasted  the 
character  of  human  kind !  " 

We  will  not  attempt  to  describe,  in  detail,  the  lively  and 
bustling  scene,  which,  for  the  next  hour  or  two,  now  ensued  in 
and  around  the  tavern,  that  had  lately  been  the  unaccustomed 
theatre  of  so  many  new  and  startling  developments.  The  run- 
ning to  and  fro  of  the  excited  and  jubilant  throng  of  men, 
women,  and  children,  who,  in  their  anxiety '  to  witness  and 
know  the  result  of  the  trial,  had  passed  the  whole  night  in  the 
place,  —  the  partaking  of  the  hastily  snatched  breakfast,  in  the 


THE   TEAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  341 

tavern,  bj  some,  or  on  logs  or  bunches  of  shingles  in  the  yard, 
by  others,  from  provisions  brought  along  with  them  from  home, 
—  the  hurried  harnessing  of  horses  and  running  out  of  wag- 
ons, ^preparatory  to  the  departure  of  those  here  with  the  usual 
vehicles  of  travel,  —  the  resounding  blows  and  lumbering  sounds 
of  the  score  of  lusty  men  who  had  volunteered  to  replace  and 
repair  the  bridge  from  the  old  materials  luckily  thrown  on 
the  bank  a  short  distance  down  the  stream,  so  as  to  permit  the 
departing  teams,  going  in  that  direction,  to  pass  safely  over,  — 
and,  lastly,  the  bringing  out,  the  placing  on  his  bed  of  straw  in 
the  bottom  of  a  wagon,  and  the  moving  off  of  the  caged  lion, 
with  his  cavalcade  of  guards  before  and  behind,  —  the  fiercely 
exultant  hurrahing  of  the  execrating  crowd,  as  he  disappeared 
up  the  road  to  the  west,  together  with  the  crowning,  extra  loud 
and  triumphant  huh-hn7c-7ce-o-ho  I  of  Comical  Codman,  who  had 
mounted  a  tall  stump  for  the  purpose,  and  made  the  preliminary 
declaration  that,  if  he  was  ever  to  have  another  crow,  it  should 
be  now,  on  seeing  the  Devil's  unaccountable  and  first  cousin,  to 
say  the  least,  in  relationship,  so  handsomely  cornered,  and,  at 
last  so  securely  put  in  limbo,  —  these,  all  these  combined  to 
form  a  scene  as  stirring  to  the  view,  as  it  was  replete  with 
moral  picturesque  to  the  mind.  But  we  must  content  ourself 
with  this  meagre  outline  ;  another  and  a  diff"erent,  quickly  suc- 
ceeding scene  in  the  shifting  panorama,  now  demands  our 
attention. 

Among  the  crowd  who  had  arranged  themselves  in  rows,  to 
witness  the  departure  of  the  court  officials  and  the  prisoner, 
were  the  two  now  inseparable  friends,  Mrs.  Elwood  and  Fluella ; 
who,  on  turning  from  the  spectacle,  had  strolled,  arm-in-arm,  to 
a  green,  shaded  grass-plot  at  the  farther  end  of  the  tavern 
building,  and  were  now,  with  pensive  but  interested  looks, 
bending  over  the  garden  fence,  and  inspecting  a  small  parterre 
of  budding  flowers,  which  female  taste  had,  even  in  a  place  so 
lately  redeemed  from  the  forest  as  this,  found  means  to  intro- 
duce.    They  were  lingering  here,  while  others  were  departing, 

29* 


342 

for  the  arrival  of  expected  friends,  though  evidently  not  con- 
scious of  their  very  near  approach.  But  even  then,  as  they 
stood  listlessly  gazing  over  upon  the  mute  objects  of  their 
interest,  those  friends  were  coming  across  the  bridge,  in  the 
singularly  contrasted  forms  of  an  aged  man,  walking  without 
any  staff,  and  with  a  firm  elastic  tread,  and  quite  a  youngerly 
one,  walking  with  a  cane,  and  with  careful  steps  and  a  re- 
strained gait,  betokening  some  lingering  soreness  of  body  or 
limb.  On  reaching  the  nearest  part  of  the  tavern-yard,  the 
young  man  gazed  eagerly  round  among  the  still  numerous 
crowd,  when,  his  eye  falling  on  those  of  whom  he  seemed  to 
be  in  search,  he  turned  to  his  companion  and  said : 

"  There  they  are,  Chief.  I  will  go  forward  and  take  them 
by  surprise." 

The  next  moment  he  was  standing  closely  behind  the  un- 
conscious objects  of  his  attention  ;  when,  with  a  smiling  lip 
but  silent  tongue,  he  gently  laid  a  hand  on  a  shoulder  of  each. 

"  Claud ! "  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  surprised  and  reddeft- 
ing  maiden,  the  first  to  turn  to  the  welcome  intruder. 

"  Claud !  Claud ! "  exclaimed  the  agitated  matron,  as  she 
also  turned,  in  grateful  surprise,  to  greet,  for  the  first  time  since 
his  return,  her  heart's  idol.  "  My  son !  my  son ! "  she  con- 
tinued, with  gathering  emotion,  "  are  you  indeed  restored  alive 
to  my  arms,  and,  but  for  you,  my  now  doubly  desolate  home  ? 
Thank  Heaven!  O  thank  Heaven!  for  the  happy,  happy 
restoration ! " 

"  That  is  right,  dear  mother ! "  at  length  responded  the  visibly 
touched  young  man,  gently  disengaging  himself  from  the  long 
maternal  embrace;  "that  is  all  right.  But,"  he  added,  turn- 
ing to  the  maiden,  whose  sympathetic  tears  were  coursing  down 
her  fair  cheeks,  "if  you  would  thank  any  earthly  being  for 
the  preservation  of  my  life,  it  should  be  this  good  and  lovely 
girl  at  your  side." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  the  mother,  after  a  thoughtful  pause,  "  I 


THE    TRAPPERS    OP   UMBAGOG.  343 

know  it ;  and,  Claud,  I  would  that  she  were  indeed  my 
daughter." 

There  was  an  embarrassing  pause.  But  the  embarrassment 
was  not  perceived  and  felt  by  these  two  young  persons  alone. 
Another,  unknown  to  them,  had  silently  witnessed  the  whole 
interview  from  an  open,  loosely-curtained  window  of  the  cham- 
ber above  ;  and  perceived,  and  felt,  and  appreciated,  all  that 
had  transpired,  in  word  and  look,  no  less  keenly  than  the 
young  couple,  whose  beating  hearts,  only,  w^ere  measuring  the 
moments  of  their  silent  perplexity.  That  other  was  Gaut 
Gurley's  lovely  and  luckless  but  strong-hearted  daughter. 
Having  instinctively  read  her  father's  guilt,  she  had  come  to 
his  trial  with  a  sinking  heart ;  shut  herself  up  alone  in  this 
small  chamber;  so  arranged  the  screening  curtains  that  she 
could  sit  by  the  open  window  unseen,  and  kept  her  post  through 
that  long  night  of  her  silent  woe,  hearing  all  that  was  said  by 
the  crowd  below,  and,  through  their  comments,  becoming  ap- 
prised of  all  that  was  going  on  in  the  court-room,  in  the  order 
it  transpired.  She  had  known  of  Fluella's  arrival, — her  peril- 
ous passage  over  the  river, — of  the  report  she  then  made  to  the 
hunter  of  her  discoveries, — of  her  bringing  back  the  wounded 
Claud  in  safety, — of  the  dastardly  attempt  of  the  prisoner  to 
take  that  heroic  girl's  life, — of  his  sentence,  and,  finally,  of  his 
departure  for  prison,  amidst  the  execrations  of  a  justly  indig- 
nant people.  She  had  known  all  this,  and  felt  it,  to  the  inmost 
core  of  her  rent  heart,  with  the  twofold  anguish  of  a  broken- 
hearted lover  and  a  fate-smitten  daughter.  She  had  wrestled 
terribly  with  her  own  heart,  and  she  had  conquered.  She 
had  determined  her  destiny ;  and  now,  on  witnessing  the  last 
part  of  the  tender  scene  enacting  under  her  window,  she  sud- 
denly formed  the  high  resolve  of  crowning  her  self-immolation 
by  a  public  sacrifice. 

Accordingly  she  hastily  rose  from  her  seat,  and,  without 
thought  or  care  of  toilet,  descended  rapidly  to  the  yard,  and, 
with  hurrying  step  and  looks  indicative  of  settled   purpose, 


344  GAUT  gueley;   or, 

moved  directly  towards  the  deeply  surprised  actors  in  the  little 
scene,  of  which  she  had  thus  been  made  the  involuntary  witness. 

"  No  ceremony ! "  she  said,  in  tones  of  unnatural  calmness, 
with  a  forbidding  gesture  to  Claud,  who,  while  Fluella  was 
instinctively  shrinking  to  the  side  of  the  more  unmoved  but 
still  evidently  disturbed  Mrs.  Elwood,  had  advanced  a  step  for 
a  respectful  greeting.  "No  ceremony  —  it  is  needless;  and 
no  fears,  fair  girl,  and  anxious  mother  —  they  are  without 
cause.  I  come  not  to  mar,  but  to  make,  happiness.  Claud  El- 
wood, my  heart  once  opened  and  turned  to  you,  as  the  sunflower 
to  its  god ;  and  our  paths  of  love  met,  and,  for  a  while,  ran  on 
pleasantly  together  as  one.  But,  even  then,  something  whis- 
pered me  they  would  soon  again  diverge,  and  lead  off  to  sepa- 
rate destinies.-  The  boded  divergence,  as  I  feared,  began  with 
the  fatal  family  feud  of  last  winter,  and  has  now  resulted,  as  I 
still  more  feared,  in  plunging  us,  respectively,  in  degradation  and 
sorrow,  and  also  in  placing  our  destinies  as  wide  as  the  poles 
asunder.  Claud,  Claud  Elwood,  —  can  you  love. this  beauti- 
ful girl  at  your  side  ?  You  speak  not.  I  know  that  you  can. 
I  relinquish,  then,  whatever  I  may  have  possessed  of  your 
heart,  to  her,  if  she  wills.  And  why  should  she  not  ?  Why 
reject  one  whose  life  she  would  peril  her  own  to  save?  She 
will  not.  Be  you  two,  then,  one ;  and  may  all  the  earthly  hap- 
piness /  once  dreamed  of,  with  none  of  the  bitt-er  alloy  it  has 
been  my  lot  to  experience,  be  henceforth  yours.  You  will 
know  me  no  more.  With  to-morrow's  sun,  I  travel  to  a  distant 
cloister,  where  the  world,  with  its  tantalizing  loves  and  dazzling 
ambitions,  will  be  nothing  more  to  me  forever.  Farewell, 
Claud !  farewell,  gentle,  heroic  maiden !  farewell,  afflicted, 
happy  mother !  If  the  prayers  of  Avis  Gurley  have  virtue, 
their  first  incense  shall  rise  for  the  healing  of  all  the  heart- 
wounds  one  of  her  family  has  inflicted." 

As  the  fair  speaker  ceased,  and  turned  away  from  this  doubt- 
less unspeakably  painful  performance  of  what  she  deemed  her 
last  worldly  duty,  as  well  as  an  acceptable  opening  act  in  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  345 

life  of  penance  to  which  she  had  resolved  now  to  devote  her- 
self, an  audible  murmur  of  applause  ran  through  the  throng, 
who,  in  spite  of  their  wish  not  to  appear  mtrusive,  had  paused 
at  a  little  distance,  to  listen  to  and  witness  the  unexpected  and 
singular  scene.  Among  the  voices  which  had  been  thus  more 
distinctly  raised  was  that  of  a  stranger,  who,  having  arrived  a 
few  minutes  before,  given  his  horse  to  the  waiter,  shook  hands 
with  the  hunter  and  the  chief,  to  whom  he  appeared  well  known, 
had  joined  the  crowd  to  see  what  was  going  on,  and  who  had 
been  particularly  emphatic  in  the  open  expression  of  his  admi- 
ration. The  remembered  tones  of  his  voice,  though  attracting 
no  attention  from  others,  instantly  reached  the  quick  ears  of 
one  of  the  more  silent  actors  of  the  little  scene  we  have  been 
describing.  She  threw  a  quick,  eager  glance  around  her; 
and,  having  soon  singled  out  from  the  now  scattering  crowd, 
the  person  of  whom  her  sparkling  eye  seemed  in  search,  she 
flew  forward  towards  him,  with  the  joyful  cry  : 

"  My  father  !  my  white  father  !  I  am  glad,  O,  so  glad  you 
have  come !  "  and  she  eagerly  grasped  his  outstretched  hand, 
shook  it,  kissed  him,  and,  being  now  relieved  from  the  embarrass- 
ment she  had  keenly  felt  in  the  position  in  which  she  had  just 
been  so  unexpectedly  placed,  appeared  to  be  all  joy  and  ani- 
mation. 

"  Come,  come,  Fluella,  don't  shake  my  arm  off,  nor  bother 
me  now  with  questions,"  laughingly  said  the  gentleman,  thus 
affectionately  beset,  as  he  pulled  the  joyous  girl  along  towards 
the  spot  where  the  wondering  Mrs.  Elwood  and  her  son  were 
standing.  "  You  must  not  quite  monopolize  me  ;  here  are  oth- 
ers who  may  wish  to  see  me." 

"Arthur!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Elwood,  with  a  look  of  aston- 
ishment, after  once  or  twice  parting  her  lips  to  speak,  and  then 
pausing,  as  if  in  doubt,  as  the  other  was  coming  up  with  his 
face  too  much  averted  to  be  fairly  seeri  by  her ;  "  it  is — it  is  — 
Arthur  Elwood !  " 

"  Yes,  you  are  right,  sister  AHce,"  responded  the  hard-vis- 


346  '         ^  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

aged  little  man  thus  addressed,  extending  his  hand.  "  It  is  the 
same  odd  stick  of  an  old  bachelor  that  he  always  was.  But 
who  is  this  ?  "  he  added,  with  an  inclination  of  the  head  to- 
wards Claud.     "  Your  son,  I  suppose  ?  " 

The  formal  introduction  to  each  other  of  the  (till  then) 
personally  unacquainted  uncle  and  nephew ;  the  full  develop- 
ing to  the  astonished  mother  and  son  of  the  fact,  already  in- 
ferred from  what  they  had  just  witnessed,  that  this,  their  ec- 
centric kinsman,  was  no  other  than  the  foster-father  of  Fluella, 
—  that  he  was  the  owner  of  large  tracts  of  the  most  valu- 
able wild  lands  around  these  lakes,  the  oversight  of  which, 
together  with  the  unexpected  tutelary  care  of  the  Elwood 
family  since  their  removal  to  the  settlement,  he  had  intrusted 
to  the  prudent  and  faithful  Phillips,  —  and,  finall}'-,  the  melan- 
choly mingling  of  sorrows  for  the  untimely  death  of  the  fated 
brother,  husband,  and  father  of  these  deeply-sympathizing  co- 
relatives,  now,  like  chasing  lights  and  shadows  from  alternating 
sunshine  and  cloud  on  a  landscape,  followed  in  rapid  succession, 
in  unfolding  to  the  mournfully  happy  circle  their  mutual  posi- 
tions and  bonds  of  common  interest. 

"  Evil  has  its  antidotes,"  remarked  Arthur  Elwood,  as  the 
conversation  on  these  subjects  began  to  flag  and  give  room  for 
other  thoughts  growing  out  of  the  association ;  "  evil  has  its 
antidotes,  and  sorrow  its  alleviating  joys.  And  especially  shall 
we  realize  this,  if  the  suggestions  of  that  self-sacrificing  girl, 
who  has  just  addressed  you  so  feelingly,  be  now  followed. 
What  say  you,  Claud  ?  " 

"  They  will  be,"  promptly  responded  the  young  man,  at  once 
comprehending  all  which  the  significant  question  involved; 
"  they  will  be,  on  my  part,  uncle  Arthur,  joyfully,  —  proudly." 

"  And  you,  Fluella  ?  "  persisted  the  saucy  querist,  turning  to 
the  blushing  girl. 

"  He  has  not  asked  me  yet,"  she  quickly  replied,  with  a  look 
in  which  maiden  pride,  archness,  and  unuttered  happiness,  were 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  347 

charmingly  blended.  "  If  he  should,  and  you  should  command 
me" 

"  Command  ?  command!  Now,  that  is  a  good  one,  Fluella," 
returned  the  laughing  foster-father.  "Well,  well,  a  woman 
will  be  a  woman  still,  any  way  you  can  fix  it.  All  right,  how- 
ever, I  presume.  But,  chief,"  he  added,  turning  to  the  natural 
father,  who  stood  with  the  hunter  a  little  in  the  backgi'ound, 
"  what  has  been  going  on  here  cannot  have  escaped  your  keen 
observation ;  and  you  ought  to  have  a  voice  m  this  matter. 
"  What  do  you  say  ?  " 

"  The  chief,"  replied  the  other,  with  his  usual  dignity,  "  the 
chief  has  had  one  staff,  one  light  of  his  lodge ;  he  will  now 
have  two.     Wenongonet  is  content." 

"  It  is  settled,  then,"  rejoined  the  former,  whose  usually  pas- 
sionless countenance  was  now  beaming  with  pleasure ;  "  all 
right,  all  round.  Now,  sister  Alice,  let  us  all  adjourn  to  your 
house,  where  you  and  Fluella,  from  some  of  those  splendid 
lake  trout  which  I  and  Mr.  Phillips,  who,  as  well  as  the  chief, 
must  be  of  the  party,  will  first  go  out  and  catch  for  you,  —  you 
and  Fluella,  I  say,  must  cook  us  up  a  nice  family  dinner,  over 
which  we  will  discuss  matters  at  large,  and  have  a  good  time 
generally." 

In  a  few  minutes  more  the  happy  group  were  on  their  way 
to  the  Elwood  cottage. 

The  principal  interest  of  our  story  is  at  an  end  ;  and  with  it, 
also,  the  story  itself  should  speedily  terminate.  A  few  words 
more,  however,  seem  necessary,  to  anticipate  the  inquiries  which 
will  very  naturally  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  reader,  respecting 
what  might  be  expected  soon  to  follow  the  eclaircissement  of 
the  few  last  pages ;  and,  accordingly,  as  far  as  can  be  done 
without  marring  the  unity  of  time,  we  will  proceed,  briefly,  to 
answer  the  inquiries  thus  arising. 

The  body  of  the  fated  Mark  Elwood,  perforated  through  the 
breast  by  the  bullet  of  his  cold-blooded  murderer,  having  broken 
from  the  sinking  weights   attached   to  it,  and  risen   to   the 


348  GAUT  gurlet;  or, 

surface  of  the  lake,  was  found  in  about  a  fortnight,  brought 
home,  and  buried  on  his  farm. 

Not  far  from  the  same  time  the  faithful  hunter  received, 
from  the  hands  of  a  gentleman  passing  through  the  settlement, 
a  deed  of  gift  of  three  hundred  acres  of  valuable  timber-land, 
adjoining  his  own  little  patch  of  a  lot^  all  duly  drawn,  signed, 
and  executed  by  Arthur  Elwood ;  who,  after  a  pleasant  sojourn 
of  a  week  at  the  Elwood  cottage,  apprising  its  inmates  of  what 
he  had  in  store  for  them,  in  the  line  of  property,  had  departed 
for  his  home,  a  happier  man  than  he  had  been,  since,  for  secret 
griefs,  he  had  dissolved  partnership  with  his  brother  Mark,  and 
left  the  little  interior  village  where  the  pair  first  made  their 
humble  beginning  in  life. 

Codman,  the  trapper,  continued  to  trap  it  still,  and,  as  all  the 
settlers  within  a  circuit  of  many  miles  around  them  were  often 
unmistakably  made  aware,  to  crow  as  usual  on  all  extra  occa- 
sions. 

Tomah,  the  college-learned  Indian,  immediately  left,  with  the 
escort  of  the  prisoner,  and,  kept  away  by  the  force  of  some  asso- 
ciations connected  with  the  settlement  as  disagreeable  to  him 
as  they  were  conjecturable  to  others,  was  never  again  seen  in 
the  settlement ;  against  which,  on  leaving,  he  seemed  to  have 
kicked  off  the  dust  of  his  feet  behind  him. 

Carvil,  the  cultivated  amateur  hunter,  had  also  immediately 
departed,  with  the  court  party,  on  his  way  to  his  pleasant  home 
in  the  Green  Mountains  ;  not  wholly  to  relinquish,  however,  his 
yearly  sojourns  in  the  forests,  to  regain  health  impaired  for  the 
want  of  a  more  full  supply  of  his  coveted,  life-giving  oxygen. 

And,  lastly,  Gaut  Gurley,  whose  infernal  scheming  and  re- 
volting atrocities  have  been  so  inseparably  interwoven  with  the 
main  incidents  of  our  story,  broke  jail,  on  the  night  preceding 
the  day  set  for  his  final  trial,  by  digging  through  the  thick  stone 
wall  of  his  prison,  with  implements  evidently  furnished  from 
without,  leaving  bloody  traces  of  his  difficult  egress  through 
the  hardly  sufficient  hole  he  had  effected  for  the  purpose  ;  and, 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  349 

thougli  instant  searcli  was  everywhere  made  for  him,  he  was 
not,  to  the  sad  disappointment  of  the  thousands  intending  to  be 
in  at  the  hanging,  anywhere  to  be  found  or  heard  of  in  the 
country.  And  the  mystery  of  his  retreat,  and  the  still  unex- 
plained mystery  of  his  strange  and  ruinous  influence  over  the 
man  whom  he  at  last  so  flagitiously  murdered,  were  not  cleared 
up  until  years  afterwards, 
so 


SEQUEL. 


It  was  a  terrible  storm.  The  wind,  with  all  the  awful  ac- 
companiments of  rain,  hail,  rattling  thunders,  and  fiercely 
glaring  lightnings,  had  burst  down  upon  the  liquid  plains  of 
the  startled  deep,  in  all  the  fury  of  a  tropical  tornado.  The 
black  heavens  were  in  terrific  commotion  above  ;  and  the  smit- 
ten and  resilient  waters,  as  if  to  escape  the  impending  wrath  of 
the  aroused  sister  elements,  were  fleeing  in  galloping  mountains 
athwart  the  surface  of  the  boiling  ocean  beneath. 

Could  aught  human,  or  aught  of  human  construction,  be 
here,  now,  and  survive  ?  It  would  seem  an  utter  impossibility ; 
and  yet  it  was  so.  Amidst  all  this  deafening  din  of  battling 
elements,  that  were  filhng  the  heavens  with  their  uproar  and 
lashing  the  darkened  ocean  into  wild  fury  and  commotion,  a 
staunch-built  West  India  merchant-ship  was  seen,  now  madly 
plunging  into  the  troughs  of  the  sea,  and  now  quivering  like  a 
feather  on  the  towering  waves,  or  scudding  through  the  flying 
spray  with  fearful  velocity  before  the  howling  blast. 

On  her  flush  deck,  and  lashed  to  the  helm,  with  the  breaking 
waves  dashing  around  his  feet,  and  the  water  dripping  from 
the  close  cap  and  tightly-buttoned  pea-jacket  in  which  he  was 
garbed,  stood  her  gallant  master,  in  the  performance  of  a  duty 
which  he,  true  to  his  responsibihty,  would  intrust  to  no  other, 
in  such  an  hour  as  this, — that  of  guiding  his  storm-tossed  bark 
among  the  frightful  billows  that  were  threatening  every  in- 
stant, to  engulf  her.  Thus  swiftly  onward  drove  the  seemingly 
devoted  ship,  strained,  shivering,  and  groaning  beneath  the  ter- 

(350) 


THE   TEAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  351 

rible  power  of  the  gale,  like  an  over-ridden  steed,  as  she 
dashed,  yet  unharmed,  through  the  mist  and  spray  and  con- 
stantly-breaking white  caps  of  the  wildly-rolling  deep  ;  thus 
onward  sped  she,  for  the  full  space  of  two  hours,  when  the 
wind  gradually  lulled,  and  with  it  the  deafening  uproar  sub- 
sided. Presently  a  young,  well-dressed  gentleman  made  his 
appearance  on  deck,  amidships,  and,  having  noted  a  while  the 
now  evident  subsidence  of  the  tempest,  slowly  and  carefully, 
from  one  grasped  rope  to  another,  made  his  way  to  the  side  of 
the  captain,  at  the  wheel. 

"  A  frightful  blow,  Mr.  Elwood, "  said  the  latter  ;  "  for  the 
twenty  years  I  have  been  a  seaman,  I  have  never  seen  the 
like." 

"  It  certainly  has  exceeded  all  my  conceptions  of  a  sea- 
storm,"  said  the  other.  "  But  do  you  know  where  we  are,  and 
where  driving  at  this  tremendous  speed  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  I  do,  both.  When  we  were  struck  by  the 
gale,  which  I  saw  was  going  to  be  a  terrible  norther,  and  saw  it, 
too,  very  luckily,  at  a  distance  that  enabled  me  to  become  well 
prepared  for  it,  look  at  my  reckoning,  and  make  all  my  calcu- 
lations, —  when  we  were  struck,  we  were  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  out  of  Havana,  north'ard,  and  about  forty  from  the 
American  coast.  I  at  once  put  the  ship  before  the  wind,  and 
set  her  course  southeast,  which,  being  perfectly  familiar  with 
these  seas,  I  knew  would  give  her  a  safe  run,  and,  in  about 
sixty  miles,  carry  her  by  the  southern  point  of  the  Little  Ba- 
hama Bank,  where,  rounding  this  great  breakwater  against 
northers,  we  should  be  in  a  comparatively  smooth  sea,  that 
would  admit  of  either  laying  to  or  anchoring.  It  is  now  over 
two  hours  since  we  started  on  this  fearful  race,  which  has  kept 
my  heart  in  my  mouth  the  whole  time ;  and  I  am  expect- 
ing, every  minute,  to  get  sight  of  that  rocky  headland." 

"  But  that,"  rejoined  Elwood  (for  the  gentleman  was  no 
other  than  Claud  Elwood,  as  the  reader  has  doubtless  already 


352 

inferred),  "  that  will  bring  us,  according  to  the  late  rumor,  into 
one  of  the  principal  haunts  of  the  pirates,  will  it  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  partly,  perhaps,"  replied  the  captain ;  "  but  I  hear 
that  Commodore  Porter  has  arrived,  with  the  American  squad- 
ron, in  these  seas,  to  break  up  these  pests,  and  I  presume  has 
done  it,  or  frightened  them  away,  so  that  we  sha'n't  be  molested. 
At  any  rate,  I  saw  no  safer  course  to  outlive  such  a  tem- 
pest. You  are  the  owner  of  .ship  and  cargOj  to  be  sure  ;  but 
you  put  on  me  the  responsibility  of  her  safety." 

"  Certainly,"  rejoined  the  other,  "for  my  guidance  would  be 
a  poor  one ;  and,  instead  of  any  disposition  to  criticise  your 
course,  Captain  Golding,  I  feel  but  too  grateful,  with  the  life 
of  a  beloved  wife  at  stake,  to  say  nothing  of  my  own,  and  so 
much  property,  that  your  skill  has  enabled  us  to  outride  the 
storm — now  nearly  over,  I  think — so  unexpectedly  well.  But 
what  is  that,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  ship's  course,  in  the  dis- 
tance ahead  ?  " 

"Ah,  that  is  it !"  cheerily  exclaimed  the  captain,  casting  an 
eager  look  in  the  indicated  direction.  "  Why,  how  like  a  race- 
horse the  ship  must  be  driving  ahead  !  I  looked  not  ten  min- 
utes ago,  and  nothing  was  to  be  seen ;  and  now  there  is  the 
headland,  in  full  view,  but  two  or  three  leagues  distant!  And 
stay, — what  is  that  dark  object  around  and  a  little  beyond  the 
point?  A  ship  ?  Yes,  it  grows  distinct  now, — a  large,  black 
ship.  That,  sir,  is  an  American  frigate.  Hurra  to  you,  El- 
wood  !     We  will  now  soon  be  safe,  and  in  safe  company." 

It  was  about  sunset.  The  merchantman,  having  passed  the 
protecting  promontory,  and  swept  around  the  tall  ship  of  war, 
had  gained  an  offing,  about  a  half  mile  beyond,  under  the  lee 
of  a  thickly-wooded,  long,  narrow  island  ;  and  was  now  lying 
snugly  at  anchor,  riding  out  the  heavy  ground-swell  occasioned 
by  the  abated  storm  ;  while  all  on  board,  unsuspicious  of  mo- 
lestation, were  making  preparations  to  turn  in  for  the  night. 

"  A  sail  to  the  leeward ! "  shouted  a  sailor,  just  sent  aloft  to 
make  some  alteration  in  the  rigging. 


THE   TRAPPERS   OP   UMBAGOG.  353 

The  word  was  passed  below ;  and  the  captain,  mates,  and 
Elwood,  were  instantly  on  deck,  and  on  the  lookout.  They  at 
once  descried  a  large  black  schooner,  creeping  out  from  behind 
the  farther  end  of  the  island  against  which  they  were  an- 
chored, about  a  mile  distant,  and  tacking  and  beating  her  way 
towards  them.  She  carried  no  colors  by  which  her  character 
could  be  determined ;  but  the  very  absence  of  all  such  insignia, 
together  with  the  sinister  appearance  of  her  long,  low  sides, 
which  exhibited  the  aspect  of  masked  port-holes,  and  also  the 
pecuhar  stii-  of  her  evidently  large  and  strange-looking  crew, 
at  once  marked  her  as  an  object  of  suspicion. 

"  Elwood,  your  fears  were  prophetic,"  said  the  captain,  low- 
ering his  glass  from  a  long,  intent  observation.  "  That  craft 
is  a  pirate,  with  scarce  a  shadow  of  doubt.  But  don't  the  mad 
creature  see  the  frigate,  and  the  frigate  her  ?  " 

With  this,  they  all  turned  towards  the  ship  of  war ;  but  she 
was  no  longer  visible.  A  narrow  vein  of  land  fog,  put  in 
motion  by  some  local  current  in  shore,  had  been  wafted  out  on 
to  the  water,  and  completely  enshrouded  her  from  their  view. 

"  I  see  it  all,"  exclaimed  Elwood.  "  That  pii-ate  has  been 
lying,  all  the  afternoon,  concealed  behind  this  island ;  and  his 
spies,  sent  into  the  woods  on  the  island,  and  to  this  end  of  it, 
probably,  saw  both  our  ship  and  the  frigate  take  their  posi- 
tions, and  this  intervening  fog  coming  on,  and  reported  all  to 
their  master  ;  who  at  once  conceived  the  bold  design  which  he 
has  now  started  out  to  execute,  —  that  of  snatching  us,  as  its 
prize,  from  under  the  very  guns  of  the  frigate !  " 

A  brief,  earnest  consultation  was  then  held ;  when,  knowing 
the  uselessness  of  trying  to  signalfze  the  frigate,  they  first 
thought  to  weigh  anchor  and  try  to  escape  to  her  protection ; 
but  a  little  reflection  told  them  the  enemy  would  be  down  upon 
them  before  this  could  be  effected,  and  they  would  be  taken, 
unprepared  for  defence.  The  only  other  alternative  left  them 
was,  therefore,  quickly  adopted ;  and,  in  pursuance,  the  second 
mate   and  two  seamen  were  lowered  in  the    life-boat,  with 

30^ 


354  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

orders  to  keep  the  ship  between  themselves  and  the  schooner 
till  they  got  into  the  screening  fog,  and  then  make  their  way, 
with  all  speed,  to  the  frigate,  to  invoke  her  aid  and  protection  ; 
while  all  the  rest  should  arm  themselves  with  the  muskets, 
swords,  and  pistols  on  board,  and,  if  possible,  hold  the  enemy 
at  bay  till  succor  arrived.  And  scarcely  had  these  hasty  prep- 
arations been  made,  before  the  piratical  schooner,  which  had 
made  a  wide  tack  outward  to  catch  the  wind,  came  swiftly 
sweeping  round  to  their  side,  like  a  towering  falcon  on  his 
prey.  But,  by  some  miscalculation  of  her  helmsman,  she  went 
twenty  yards  wide  of  them  —  not,  however,  without  betraying 
the  full  extent  of  her  bloody  purposes  ;  for  as,  under  the  im- 
pulse of  a  speed  she  found  herself  unable  instantly  to  check, 
she  swept  by  on  the  long,  rolling  billows,  a  score  or  two  of 
desperate  ruffians,  headed  by  their  burly  and  still  more  fierce- 
looking  captain,  stood  on  her  deck,  armed  to  the  teeth,  and 
holding  their  hooks  and  hawsers,  ready  to  grapple  and  board 
their  intended  prey.  But,  still  forbearing  to  unmask  their  bat- 
teries or  fire  a  gun,  lest  they  should  thus  bring  down  the  frigate 
upon  them,  her  grim  and  silent  crew  sprang  to  their  posts,  to 
tack  ship  and  come  round  again,  with  the  narrowest  sweep,  to 
repair  their  former  mischance.  And,  with  surprising  quick- 
ness, their  well-worked  craft  was  again,  and  this  time  with  no 
uncertain  guidance,  shooting  alongside  of  the  devoted  mer- 
chantman. Still  the  crew  of  the  latter  quailed  not ;  but,  well 
knowing  there  was  no  longer  any  hope  of  escaping  a  struggle 
in  which  death  or  victory  were  the  only  alternatives,  stood, 
with  knitted  brows  and  fire-arms  cocked  and  levelled,  silently 
awaiting  the  onset.  It  came.  -With  the  shock  of  the  partial 
collision  as  the  assailing  craft  raked  along  the  sides  of  their 
ship,  and  the  sudden  jerk  as  she  was  brought  up  by  the  quickly- 
thrown  grapples,  the  pirate  captain,  with  a  fierce  shout  of  defi- 
ance, cleared,  at  a  single  bound,  the  intervening  rails,  and 
landed,  with  brandished  sword,  upon  their  fore-deck.  A  dozen 
more,  with  a  wild  yell,  were  in  the  act  of  following,  when  they 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  355 

were  met  by  a  full  volley  from  the  guns  of  the  defenders, 
poured  into  their  very  faces.  There  was  a  pause,  —  a  lurch, — 
a  crack  of  breaking  fixtures ;  and  the  next  moment  the  schooner, 
torn  away  from  her  fastenings  by  the  force  of  a  monstrous  up- 
heaving wave,  and  thrown  around  at  right  angles  to  the  un- 
harmed prey  so  nearly  within  her  clutches,  was  seen  rolling 
and  reeling  on  the  top  of  a  billow,  fifty  yards  distant.  At  that 
instant,  twenty  jets  of  blinding  flame  fiercely  burst  from  the 
edge  of  the  fog-cloud,  almost  within  pistol-shot  to  the  windward, 
and,  with  the  startling  flash,  rent  sky  and  ocean  leaped  as  with 
the  concussion  of  a  closely-breaking  volley  of  linked  thunder- 
peals. There  was  another  and  still  more  awful  pause  ;  when, 
through  the  cloud  of  sulphurous  smoke  that  was  rolling  over 
them,  the  astounded  defenders  heard  the  gurgling  rush,  as  of 
waters  breaking  into  newly  opened  chasms,  in  the  direction  of 
the  enemy ;  and  they  comprehended  all.  The  frigate,  unper- 
ceived  by  the  eager  pirates,  had  dropped  down,  rounded  to, 
and  sent  a  whole  broadside  directly  into  the  uprolled  hull  of 
the  devoted  craft,  which  had  been  reduced  to  a  sinking  wreck 
by  that  one  tremendously  heavy  discharge  of  terrible  missiles. 
Within  two  minutes  the  lifting  smoke  disclosed  her,  reeling  and 
lurching  for  the  final  plunge.  Within  one  more,  she  rose  up- 
right, like  some  mortally-smitten  giant,  quivered  an  instant, 
and,  with  all  her  grim  and  hideously-screeching  crew,  went 
down,  stern  foremost,  amid  the  parting  waves  of  the  boiling 
deep. 

These  startling  scenes  had  transpired  so  rapidly  that  the 
amazed  crew  of  the  merchantman  had  taken  no  thought  of  the 
pirate  captain  whom  they  had  seen  leaping  on  their  deck ;  but 
they  now  turned  to  look  for  him,  and,  whether  dead  or  alive,  to 
take  charge  of  him,  to  crown  the  fortunate  result  of  this  fearful 
encounter.  There  he  stood  at  bay,  with  back  turned  to  the 
foremast,  facing  his  virtual  captors,  with  a  brandished  sword  in 
one  hand  and  a  pistol  in  the  other,  as  if  daring  them  to  approach 
or  fire  on  him.    But  they  were  spared  the  necessity  of  attempt- 


356 

ing  either.  A  boat's  crew  of  armed  men  from  the  frigate  were 
already  mounting  the  deck,  to  claim  whoever  of  the  pirates 
they  found  alive,  as  their  trophies.  The  formidable  desperado 
was  pointed  out  to  them ;  when,  firing  a  volley  over  his  head, 
to  confuse  without  killing  him,  they  rushed  forward  in  the 
smoke,  disarmed,  bound,  and  dragged  him  along,  to  pass  him 
down  to  their  boat.  As  he  was  being  urged  across  the  deck, 
his  eyes  met  those  of  Elwood.  The  recognition  was  mutual. 
It  was  Gaut  Gurley ! 

It  was  morning,  and  the  bright  sun  was  looking  down  upon 
an  ocean  as  calm  and  peaceful  as  if  its  passive  bosom  had  never 
been  disturbed  by  the  ensanguined  tumults  of  warring  men,  or 
the  commotions  of  battling  elements. 

A  youthful  couple  were  standing  by  the  rail,  on  the  deck  of 
the  still  anchored  merchantman,  and  glancing  up  admiringly  at 
the  towering  masts  of  the  ship-of-war,  which  had  also  anchored 
for  the  night  on  the  very  spot  from  which  she  had  dealt  such 
destruction  to  the  pirates,  whose  awful  fate  and  the  connected 
circumstances  had  been  with  them  the  topic  of  conversation. 

"  This  has  been  such  a  fearful  ordeal  to  you,  dear  Fluella," 
said  the  young  man,  smilingly,  "  that  I  shall  probably  never  be 
able  again  to  induce  you  to  leave  home  to  cross  the  ocean,  either 
for  health  or  pleasure,  shall  I  ?  " 

"  For  pleasure,  no,  my  dear  husband,"  affectionately  re- 
sponded the  other ;  "  no,  with  my  happy  New  England  home, 
never,  for  pleasure,  Claud." 

"  But  this  was  for  health"  rejoined  Elwood.  "  I  have  never 
told  you  how  much  I  was  concerned  about  you  last  summer,  or 
that  your  physician  warned  me,  as  cold  weather  approached, 
he  could  not  answer  for  your  life  through  another  winter  at  the 
North.  It  was  this  only  that  led  me  to  urge  you  to  accompany 
me  to  Cuba,  to  remain  there  till  I  came  back  for  you  in  the 
spring,  as  I  have  now  done.  And,  to  say  nothing  of  the  gains 
which  my  two  ti^ps  will  add  to  the  estate  of  which  I  am  heir  in 
expectation, — or  rather,  as  my  good  uncle  will  have  it,  in  pos- 


THE  TRAPPERS   OF   UMBAGOG.  357 

session  with  him,  —  to  say  nothing  of  this,  I  shall  always  be 
thankful  for  your  coming,  for  it  has  so  evidently  restored  you, 
I  had  almost  said,  to  more  of  health  and  beauty  than  I  have 
seen  you  exhibiting  for  the  whole  two  and  a  half  happy  years 
of  our  married  life." 

"  Thank  you,  Claud,  for  the  beautiful  part  of  it,"  said  the 
happy  wife,  snapping  her  handkerchief  in  his  face,  with  an 
air  of  mock  resentment ;  "  but  I  am  thinking  of  home.  When 
shall  we  reach  there  ?  " 

"  Well,  let  us  calculate,"  replied  the  husband,  beginning  to 
catch  the  affectionate  animation  of  the  other :  "  tliis  is  the  22d 
of  April ;  and  I  think  I  can  promise  you  the  enjoyment  of  a 
May-day  in  New  England." 

"  I  hold  you  to  that,  sir,"  playfully  rejoined  the  wife,  "  for  I 
wish  to  be  preparing  for  our  summer  residence  at  your  cottage 
on  my  native  lakes.  My  illness  deprived  me  of  that  pleasure 
last  summer,  you  know,  husband  mine." 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  with  kindling  enthusiasm,  "  we  will  go,  Flu- 
ella.  I  want  to  see  the  good  old  chief;  I  want  to  enjoy  the 
visit  I  have  promised  me  from  my  friend  Carvil ;  I  want  to  hear 
Phillips  discourse  on  woodcraft,  and  Chanticleer  Codman  wake 
the  echoes  of  the  lakes  by  his  marvellous  crowing.  Yes,  yes, 
w^e  will  go,  and  make  uncle  and  mother  go  with  us,  this  time." 

"Uncle  and  mother!"  cried  Fluella,  laughingly ;  "how  odd 
that  is  getting  to  sound.  Suppose  I  call  your  mother  aunt  ? 
Have  they  not  now  been  married  long  enough  to  be  both  enti- 
tled to  the  more  endearing  names  of  father  and  mother  ?  and 
are  they  not  happy  enough  and  good  enough  to  merit  the  dear- 
est names  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Elwood,  "  I  will  correct  the  habit,  if  you 
really  wish  it.  Yes,  yes ;  the  once-styled  crusty  old  bachelor, 
Arthur  Elwood,  and  my  mother,  are  indeed  a  happy  couple. 
Did  you  ever  know  a  happier  ?  " 

"  Yes,  one,"  replied  the  hesitating,  blushing  wife,  drawing 


358  GAUT  gurley;   or, 

down  her  husband's  head,  and  slyly  imprinting  a  kiss  on  his 
cheek. 

The  conversation  between  the  happy  pair  was  here  inter- 
rupted by  the  api^earance  of  a  boat  putting  off  from  the  frigate, 
under  the  charge  of  a  midshipman ;  who,  having  come  on  board 
and  inquired  out  Elwood,  now  approached  and  presented  him 
a  letter,  saying,  as  he  departed,  it  was  from  the  pirate  prisoner, 
and  would  doubtless  require  no  answer. 

The  greatly  surprised  young  man  tore  open  the  letter,  and, 
in  company  with  his  wife,  read,  with  mingled  emotions  of  pain 
and  indignation,  the  following  singular  but  characteristic  com- 
pound of  malicious  vaunt  and  shameless  confession : 

"To  Claud  Elwood: — My  career  is  ended,  at  last.  Well, 
I  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  I  have  been  nobody's  fool 
nor  nobody's  tool.  Early  perceiving  that  nine  out  of  ten  were  only 
the  stupid  instruments  of  the  tenth  man,  the  world  over,  I  resolved 
to  go  into  the  system,  and  did,  and  improved  on  it  so  as  to  make 
nineteen  out  of  twenty  tools  to  me,  —  that  is  all.  I  have  no  great 
fault  to  find  with  men  generally,  though  I  always  despised  the 
whole  herd ;  for  I'  knew  that,  if  they  used  me  well,  it  was  only 
because  they  dared  not  do  otherwise.  I  don't  write  this,  however, 
to  preach  upon  that,  but  to  let  you  know  another  thing,  to  chew 
upon. 

"  You  call  me  a  murderer  ;  and  I  want  io  tell  you  that  you 
are  the  son  of  a  murderer,  and  therefore  stand  on  a  par  with 
my  family,  even  at  that.  Your  father,  when  we  used  to  operate 
together  in  smuggling,  being  once  hard  chased,  on  an  out-of-the- 
way  road,  by  one  of  the  custom-house  crew,  knocked  him  down 
with  a  club,  and  finished  with  the  blow,  to  save  a  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  silk.  But  I  sacredly  kept  his  secret ;  yes, 
even  to  this  day,  besides  making  one  good  fortune  for  him,  and 
being  on  the  point  of  making  him  another.  And  yet  he  be- 
trayed and  turned  against  me.     Yes,  in  that  affair  about  the 


THE   TRAPPERS   OF  UMBAGOG.  359 

missing  peltries,  lie  betrayed  me,  out  and  out,  and  spoilt  every 
thing,  ipiiat  was  his  unpardonable  sin,  with  me.  I  resolved 
he  should  die  for  it ;  and  he  did.  I  didn't  want  to  kill  you, 
but  couldn't  suffer  you  to  become  a  witness.  No,  I  never  had 
any  thing  against  you,  except  for  allowing  matters  to  take  the 
turn  that  di'ove  my  daughter  to  anticipate  you  in  breaking  off 
the  match.  But  it  was  just  as  w^ell,  as  it  turned  out.  Avis,  in 
the  position  of  lady  abbess  of  a  convent  in  one  of  your  eastern 
cities,  which  it  is  settled  she  will  have,  will  stand  quite  as  high, 
I  guess,  as  in  the  position  of  lady  Elwood. 

"  I  have  done,  now,  except  to  ask  one  favor,  — the  only  one  I 
will  ever  ask  of  any  man,  —  and  that  is,  that  you  won't  publish 
my  name,  and  couple  it  with  the  unlucky  miss-go  of  last  night ; 
so  that  my  wife  and  daughter,  who  know  I  am  in  this  region, 
but  not  my  business,  may  never  learn  that  the  captain  of  the 
Blach  Rover  and  I  are  one.  As  my  brave  boys  are  all  gone 
down,  and  as  /shall  have  no  trial  to  bring  it  out,  it  rests  with 
you  to  say  whether  it  is  ever  to  be  known  or  not ;  for,  as  I  have 
said,  I  have  no  notion  of  being  either  tried  or  hung,  any  more 
than  I  had  at  the  North.  Gaut." 

On  finishing  this  singular  and  remorseless  missive,  with  its 
strange,  painful,  but  as  he  feared  too  true  disclosure  of  the 
secret  of  that  fatal  influence  which  had  proved  the  ruin  and 
final  destruction  of  his  father,  Claud  Elwood  was  too  much 
troubled  and  overcome  to  utter  a  word  of  comment ;  and,  with 
his  pained  and  shuddering  wife,  he  stood  mute  and  thoughtful, 
until  aroused  by  the  stir  on  board,  in  preparations  for  weighing 
anchor,  and  the  cheering  announcement  of  the  captain  that  a 
favoring  breeze  was  springing  up,  and  that  within  twenty  min- 
utes they  would  be,  under  the  fairest  of  auspices,  on  their  re- 
joicing way  to  their  own  beloved  New  England. 

But  the  cheering  thought  was  not  to  be  enjoyed  without  the 
drawback  of  being  compelled  to  witness  one  more  and  a  con- 
cludino;  horror. 


360  GAUT   GUELEY. 

As  Elwood  and  his  beautiful  companion  were  on  the  point  of 
retiring  from  deck,  their  attention  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a 
light,  crashing  sound,  high  up  the  tall  side  of  the  frigate.  They 
looked,  and  caught  sight  of  broken  pieces  of  board  or  panelling 
jflying  out,  as  if  beat  or  kicked  from  what  appeared  to  have 
been  a  closed  port-hole.  Presently  the  body  of  a  man,  Avhom 
they  at  once  recognized,  was  protruded  through  the  ample  aper- 
ture he  had  evidently  thus  effected,  till  he  brought  himself  to  a 
balance  on  the  outer  edge.  Then  came  the  sharp  cry  from 
some  one  of  the  frigate's  officers  : 

"  Look  out,  there,  for  the  pirate  prisoner ! " 

There  was  at  once  a  lively  stir  on  board,  but  too  late. 
The  next  moment  the  heavily-manacled  object  of  the  alarm 
descended,  like  a  swiftly-falling  weight,  to  the  water  ;  and,  with 
a  dull  plunge,  the  recoiling  waves  rolled  back,  forever  closing 
over  the  traitor,  the  robber,  the  murderer,  and  the  'pirate,  Gaut 

GURLEY ! 


